


The Dual Blade Wielder

by CloudyLightning



Category: Sword Art Online
Genre: Drama, Dual, Gen, Humor, blade - Freeform, wielder
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-01
Updated: 2016-07-03
Packaged: 2018-04-18 11:27:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 61,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4704437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CloudyLightning/pseuds/CloudyLightning
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a car accident that made him frail, he could only wish and dream of being able to walk further that ten meters. Thanks to a game developer, he was given a VRMMORPG that granted his wish. Sword Art Online.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Return

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first time here, so please excuse me for anything strange. I mean, I'm extremely new to this, but I'm not new to writing. You can actually find this story on other websites. I am known by both this name and another, so yes, I am the same person. I hope you enjoy the story! 
> 
> DISCLAIMER: (Do we need to do this?) I don't own SAO.
> 
> Oh, and I must say this. The system here seems to not like me. If you see a whole section and pieces of dialogue with "/" in the beginning and end, it just means that it's italicized.

A heavy haze of drowsiness had clouded up in his head. He could feel it lifting, but he couldn't find the strength to wake up. He heard a knock on the door as someone opened his door. He pretended to sleep as he felt a small hand lightly hold his own.

"Onii-san, I'll be going to practice now, so I'll be home somewhere around five, okay?" said his little sister. He didn't bother to answer as she left his room, closing the door gently. It was always like this. If he was sleeping, his sister wouldn't dare to forcefully wake him up because she knew her brother wouldn't be really awake until half an hour later.

Once he heard the gate close outside, he forced himself to get up; remembering a promise he made to someone. His world blurred as he slowly blinked his eyes open. It took him awhile, but he was finally able to sit up without having the urge to throw up. He stared at the clock, having a bit of trouble reading it.

12:57.

Sighing in exasperation at the ache in his left leg, he picked up the NervGear sitting on his night stand. Inside was a game that was given to him as a gift. A gift that could let him do things he could never do in reality. He smiled and put on the NervGear. Lying down again, he took a deep breath.

"Link start!" came his voice in a slightly strained voice. He closed his eyes and gave a tiny smile.

._._._._._.

A black-haired young man opened his eyes and smiled. He looked down to his hands and clenched them closed.

"Finally, I'm back." he muttered. He took off in a jog, passing all the players roaming around. He quickly bought a sword along with some potions and quickly headed to the gates.

"Hey! Hey, you!" called a voice behind him. He stopped and saw a man with red hair and a red headband run up to him. He waited for him to catch up. "You look like you know you're way around. Can you help me out? I'm a new at this whole NervGear thing. I'm Klein!"

Klein held out his hand as a gesture to shake it. The black-haired adult smiled a bit and hesitantly shook his hand. "Y-yeah...I'm Kirito. I guess I can help you out..."

._._._._._._.

"Gyaaah!"

Kirito choked down a laugh as he watched Klein hit the ground with a loud thump. The boar growled and ran the other direction.

"Focus more on the way you move." Kirito advised as he watched his party member curse at the wild boar. He shook slightly as he stood.

"How can I? It keeps moving!" complained Klein. Kirito thought for a second.

"Well, think about it. In real fighting, things are always moving." Kirito said as he picked up a stone and tossed it up, swinging his hand to catch it. He pulled his arm back and got into a position of a sword skill and threw the pebble at the boar, clearly angering it.

"How'd you do that?!" asked Klein. Kirito dodged the boar heading his way as he answered.

"It's called a sword skill. The system detects our movements. Once you get into a position of a sword skill, the system will act accordingly. Meaning, it'll hit the target for you...ish." he explained, smiling all the while. He saw Klein slightly confused face. "Just think about your first movement."

"Movement....." Klein muttered. Kirito watched the boar run off before turning around to attack him again. He smiled lightly.

"It's like gathering your energy and releasing it. You try."

Klein watched him side step the boar with ease, leading toward him. "O-oi! Already?!"

He quickly got into a fighting stance and moved into a sword skill. His cutlass in his right hand shone orange; the system recognized his sword skill.

"Hooorrraaaah!!!" was Klein's battle cry as he rushed forward and slashed the mad boar in half. It shattered a second later.

"Yes! I did it!" yelled Klein, doing a fist pump in victory. Kirito shook his head in amusement.

"Congrats, Klein," Kirito said, placing his hands on his hips. "Just keep in mind that its as strong as those first dungeon monsters."

Klein laughed. "Haha, I thought it was a boss." He sat down and looked to the side. "But I can't believe that we're . It feels so real."

Kirito forced a smile. "Yeah, it's really hard for me to believe it, too. Is this your first time in ?"

"Yup," replied Klein. "I just got the Nerve Gear after getting Sword Art Online. I probably got lucky. You must have a ton of luck to have been one of the beta testers. Only a thousand, right?"

Kirito suddenly felt irritation stir, but it definitely wasn't directed at Klein. He forced it down and cleared his throat. "Yeah, only a thousand. But it was...ah...different for me."

Klein raised his eyebrows. "Different? How?"

Kirito stared past him and put on an apathetic look. "To put it simply, I wasn't given the game randomly. I was forced to play. I rather not say what happened."

Silence came over the two as they watched to sun set. Klein was the first to break it.

"Hey, Kirito?"

"Hm?"

"I don't want to be imposing but do you have any family?" asked Klein. Kirito bit his lip for a second, debating whether or not to answer.

"Ah... I have my younger sister and mother living with me." answered Kirito, after much thought.

"A little sister? Is she here too? Is she cute?"

Kirito raised his hands up in defense as Klein bombarded him with several questions about his sister.

"Ah...she isn't into games like us...." Kirito half whispered to Klein. Klein gave Kirito an odd look before sighing.

"Ah, but you're lucky." said Klein, watching the sun set in the distance. "I'm living alone."

Kirito blinked. "And you're telling me this because...?"

Klein got up and shrugged. "Don't know. I just felt like telling you. Come to think of it, do you wanna meet my friends?"

Kirito didn't answer. He frowned and took a step back. Klein got the message though. He stood up and smiled.

"Maybe some other time, then?" said Klein. Kirito nodded, looking away.

"Sorry. I'm not used to actually taking to people other than my sister, mother, and two others. But thank you." he said.

"I should be thanking you for helping me out, Kirito. So, thanks." Klein said. "Well, I gotta go soon. My pizza's going to be here by 5:30."

He glanced to his bottom right. Most likely checking the time. Kirito did the same realizing that he needed to log out soon.

"Same here--er, not the pizza part. I mean, I have to log out soon, too." said Kirito as he scratched the back of his head. Klein smiled and held out his hand. Kirito nervously shook it.

"Nice meeting you, Kirito," said Klein with a smile. "I hope we'll meet again real soon."

Kirito nodded, "I hope so too."

They let go of each other's hands and turned around. Kirito took a couple steps forward and opened his menu. He scrolled through a couple things and, as if it was a habit, scrolled down to the bu--

Kirito froze when he heard Klein's voice.

"Hey, Kirito? Where's the button...?"

Kirito's heart began to race a mile per second and he knew that he had to calm down. His breaths came in short and his head seemed to be spinning. He quickly dismissed the menu and clutched his chest, forcing himself to calm down.

"C-check again," he said. His voice sounded forced and caused Klein to look his way.

"You alright?" asked Klein with concern. Kirito nodded and immediately dropped his hand and forced to breath normally.

"Yes, I'm fine. Try and call the GM. Maybe he'll help us out." Kirito suggested, changing the subject.

"I am now, but I don't think he's answering." Klein walked over to Kirito and placed a hand in his shoulder. "Are you sure you're alright?"

Kirito resisted the urge to brush Klein's hand away from him. "Can you stop that? You sound like my mo--"

He wasn't able to finish his sentence when a white light surrounded them both. Klein's grip on his shoulder tightened.

"What the--!"


	2. T h e  W e l c o m e  T u t o r i a l

She couldn't stop shaking as she ran home when she heard the news spread like wild fire. Two hundred and thirteen people passed away and over nine thousand had been trapped inside Sword Art Online, the exact game her brother was given and most likely being played right now.

She reached the gate of her home and fumbled with the lock, desperately hoping her brother was just sleeping as always. A whole thirty seconds passed by the time she unlocked the gate. Making a mad dash for the door, she jammed her house key in the lock and opened the door, rushing inside.

She ran up the stairs and stopped at the door to her brother's room. Taking a deep breath, she slammed open the door.

"Onii-chan!!" she cried as she ran over to her brother's side. Just when she was about to touch his hand, she froze. Her brother was sleeping no doubt, but the Nerve Gear around his head gave it all away.

"Suguha!" She whirled around and saw her mother rushing into the room. She moved away from her brother as her mother quickly came over to check if he was alright.

"Okaasan," Suguha said, fear evident in her voice. Her mother didn't look up as she checked the "sleeping" teen.

"He's going to fine, right?" Suguha asked. Her voice shook. Her mother looked over to her and smiled sadly.

"I don't know, Suguha." she said, taking Suguha's hand into her own. "I don't know."

._._._._._.

"Forced Teleportation?" Klein exclaimed as he quickly looked around. He knew immediately where he was. He was in the plaza of the . It wasn't only him and Kirito; there were thousands other players. And, by the looks of it, about all ten thousand.

He almost fell when the sudden weight of Kirito leaned against him. He looked down and saw Kirito had blacked out. How? He didn't know. Worried, he shook Kirito.

"Oi, oi! Wake up, Kirito!" said Klein, hoping the young man would get up. Kirito stirred slightly, and slowly pushed himself away from Klein.

"W-what happened?" he slurred. Klein didn't get the chance to answer as the sky suddenly became red with the word "WARNING" appearing in several cell plates. Leaking out of the sky came out a red substance that seemed very close to blood, all gathering at a single place in midair.

"What is that....?" Klein muttered as Kirito forced himself to get up. By the time he stood straight, a large hooded figure appeared above the plaza. The players below started up at the figure.

"Is that the Game Master?" asked someone close by.

"Where's his face?" asked another.

"Is this some kind of event?"

Questions and questions could be heard in every direction. Klein and Kirito said nothing as they continued to look up. Suddenly, the hooded figure raised his hands.

"Players, welcome to my world. My name is Kayaba Akihiko. Currently, I am the only person able to control this world." introduced the hooded figure. Kirito tensed and Klein took no notice of his friend's reaction.

"I am sure that you have all noticed the absence of the logout button on the menu screen." continued Kayaba. "However, this is not an error. This is all part of the game. A feature of Sword Art Online. I repeat, this not an error but a feature of SAO."

"A-a feature...?" Klein asked. Kirito grabbed his left arm on reflex as he felt dread become a stone in his throat.

Kayaba continued on. "You cannot log out of SAO on your own and neither can the people outside will be able to shut down or remove the NerveGear. If anyone on the outside does either of this, the transmitter inside the NerveGear will emit a strong amount of microwave radiation, wrecking your brain and killing you instantly."

Many players erupted into more questions.

"What is he saying?"

"Is this some kind of joke?"

"Oh, come on! Enough already. That can't be true."

Klein looked over to Kirito. "Hey, what's he talking about? He must be crazy. Right, Kirito?"

Kirito didn't look at Klein but stared into space. "No, Klein, he's right. The transceiver's microwave signals are like a microwave oven. If the limiter is cut off, then our brains get fried..."

"Why not cut off the power?" Klein asked. Kirito shook his head.

"Can't do that." he answered as he tightened his grip around his arm. "The NerveGear has an internal battery."

Klein had a look of disbelief before he shook his head. "But that's messed up! What's going on here?!"

"Unfortunately, the friends and family members of many players did not heed the warning. As a result, 213 players have been permanently removed from both Aincrad and the real world." Kayaba announced. Klein and Kirito stared back at Kayaba with wide eyes.

"Two hundred and thirteen players?" Kirito breathed out as he felt shock add in with his dread. Klein shook his head.

"I don't believe this. I don't believe this at all!!" Klein yelled. Many other players shouted their disbelief with him. Many screens appeared around Kayaba's form as he continued on.

"What I'm showing you is the many news organizations across the world that are reporting on this incident and the unfortunate deaths. And now, you no longer have to worry about the danger of someone removing your NerveGear."

Kirito's eyes scanned the screens. Several were about those who died and the warnings that are blinking desperately. But just one caught his eye. It displayed a mother holding her crying daughter outside the yellow tape that surrounded a house. Kirito recognized the setting immediately.

That was his home. The place he had trouble just going up and down the stairs. The place where his sister would constantly pester him when he was awake. He nearly reached out to his mother and sister. He wanted to wake up and tell them that he was alright.

But he knew he couldn't. Kayaba's voice drew him back to reality.

"Please relax and enjoy the game." he said his amusement in his voice. "But, keep in mind, you can no longer be revived in this game. Once your hit points reaches zero, your avatar will be erased, along with your life."

Silence swept over the crowd of players.

"The only way to get out of this game is to clear the game. To clear all one hundred floors. Right now you are on floor one. Make your way through the dungeons and defeat every floor boss to reach the top. Defeat the final boss on the hundredth floor, and you will clear the game."

Everyone began to talk amongst themselves about how ridiculous the whole thing was. Kirito swallowed.

"Clear all one hundred floors?" Klein asked. "That's impossible! None of the beta testers made it anywhere close to that far!"

"And lastly," Kayaba continued, "I have a gift for you in your item storage. Please go right ahead."

Without a second thought, Kirito opened up his game menu and opened his item storage. "A mirror?"

He tapped on the mirror and it appeared before him in his hand. He looked at the mirror and only saw his game avatar. A blinding white light beside Kirito made him look over.

Klein's voice was yelling out in shock. He was surrounded by the white light. Like a chain reaction, everyone else around Kirito was engulfed by the white light. Soon after, he too became engulfed by the light.

Three seconds later, Kirito immediately noticed that everything seemed slightly taller. Foot steps sounded behind him as a voice that sounded like Klein asked him a question.

"You okay, Kirito?"

Kirito turned around to answer. "A-ah, yeah....wait, who are you?"

A young-ish man stood before him with his eyes wide and confused.

"And who are you?" the man asked. Kirito immediately held up the mirror in his hands to his face. He expected to see his game avatar staring back at him but instead he saw himself. A black haired fourteen year old with black eyes; his skin pale from the lack of going out into the sun.

Kirito realized he was looking at himself. He lowed the mirror and looked around as the other players also had their appearance change. Some were accusing others for lying about their gender or age.

"So that means..." Kirito trailed off as he looked at the man in front of him. He raised a finger at him. "You're Klein?!"

"You're Kirito?!" Klein exclaimed at the same time as he did the same thing. "How?" He lowered his arm. Kirito did the same.

"That scan...must be what happened..." he answered. "The NerveGear traces your entire face with its high-density sensor. That's how it knows what your face looks like. But our height and weight?"

"When we first used the NerveGear, we had to calibrate it. Remember? You had to touch your body all over..." Klein said. Kirito grabbed his left arm again.

"That makes sense. That has got to be how it got that data." he said as he looked down.

"But why?" Klein asked as he grabbed his head in confusion. "Why is this happening to us?!"

"I have a feeling Kayaba will tell us soon." Kirito a answered as he looked up at the hooded figure once again.

"All of you must be wondering why. Why would Akihiko Kayaba, the creator of Sword Art Online and the NerveGear, do all of this? One of my goals has already been reached. I wanted to create my own world that I can observe and admire. That is partially why I created Sword Art Online." Kayaba explained. "And now, it has been done. This ends the welcome tutorial for the official Sword Art Online launch. I wish every player the best of luck."

With that note, the hooded figure regressed back to its liquid form and returned to the fake sky. In that second the sky became normal again, the colors of sun set taking over. Every player stood rooted to their spot, dead silent. For a full ten seconds no one uttered a word.

Kirito only tightened his grip around his arm and bit the back of his lip. He knew that this virtual reality suddenly became every players' reality whether they wanted it or not. And he knew that Akihiko Kayaba, the genius who created the NerveGear and a virtual reality environment, did not lie about reaching one of his goals. But Kirito never expected Kayaba to literally trap 10,000 players into a death game. Not once had that thought even came in mind.

His mirror slipped out of his hand and shattered as a loud scream made Kirito look up. The whole plaza exploded into screams of horror and defiance. He felt his head begin to spin as the screams and yells continued on. Quickly, he grabbed Klein's wrist.

"Let's get out of here!" Kirito yelled over the screams. Klein only nodded and allowed Kirito to lead him out of the plaza and to a random alley.

"Klein, we need to head to the next town. If we don't go now, then the whole area will be over hunted by other players." Kirito said as he released his hand from Klein's wrist. "If it's just us, we can make it."

Klein blinked. "Just us? Wait, Kirito, I still got friends out there. I'm pretty darn sure that they're scared right now. I can't leave them behind."

Kirito bit the back of his bottom lip. He could handle having one person with him but with any more than that he was sure--

Klein's hand rested on Kirito's shoulder. "Relax will ya?" he said as he gave Kirito's shoulder a light squeeze. "You're shaking."

Kirito forced himself to calm down as he closed his eyes and took deep breaths. After a couple seconds, he spoke in a more calmer tone.

"But I can't protect all of you guys." he said as he guiltily looked up at Klein.

"You don't have to," Klein stressed. He let go of Kirito and ran a hand through his red hair. "We can handle ourselves. And besides, you gave me all those tips. I'm sure I can help."

Kirito shook his head, half to disagree with Klein and half to ease the head ache coming on. "This is real, Klein. This isn't some kind of game anymore."

He cringed when the pain in his head grew. With effort, he strained to focus on Klein. He saw Klein's mouth moving but he couldn't make out the words. He placed a hand on his head. At that moment, Kirito realized that something was wrong. He isn't supposed to feel any pain in this game but yet he could feel the stinging ache in his left leg and the heavy cloud of drowsiness that always stayed with him in real world.

Then suddenly, his world became black and a machine operated voice of a woman echoed in his head.

"SYSTEM COLLABORATION AT ONE PERCENT."


	3. T h e  W a k e  U p  C a l l

Klein climbed up the stairs in an inn and headed to a room at the farthest end. It was three days after the announcement of the death game. Practically all the beta players left immediately after the event as they focused more on their own lives than all the beginners. Everyone still in the Starting City were still debating whether to continue into the game since they were scared of losing their life.

However, Klein had been searching for his friends. Luckily for him, he was able to find all six of his friends. But right now he was more concerned about someone else; the kid he met the first day of the death game. Don't get him wrong; he's grateful that his friends are alive, but this kid make him worry. There was something about Kirito that makes him uneasy with a lot of things. If he were to explain it, it would be a long list.

His friends were getting suspicious of Kirito.

Without bothering to knock, Klein opened the door and headed inside. The room was a small, simply decorated place with a bed at the corner and a small, wooden circle table with a matching wooden chair. Not much, but the pay for the room was very cheap. He closed the door behind him and pulled the chair up to the bedside as he sighed.

An unconscious Kirito laid there as he "slept" another day away. He scared the crap out of Klein when he suddenly collapsed. At first, Klein thought that Kirito passed out from panic, but that didn't seem to be the case. After trying to wake Kirito up for ten minutes, he decided to at least give him a place to rest. But soon those minutes turned into hours, and hours into days, and he didn't move an inch. Klein concluded yesterday that Kirito's avatar was either acting weird or the Kirito in the real world is having problems.

He shook his head to clear it. It must be the latter reason. Hopefully, it wasn't bad. As he leaned back in his chair, Klein opened up his menu and began to sort the things in his item storage. He got bored after a few minutes. But just as he dismissed his menu with a sigh, Kirito's hand twitched.

"Kirito...?"

._._._._._.

Kirito drowsily forced himself to wake up when he heard someone call his name. His vision blurred then cleared. He was staring at a ceiling before a familiar face came into view.

"Good morning?" Kirito asked as his eyes were still half closed. He was still waking up. Klein's face showed relief. "Why are you looking at me like that? Is something wrong?"

Klein gave him a disbelieving look. "'Something wrong'?! Kirito, you've been asleep for three days!"

Kirito only blinked, confusion written all over his face as he sat up. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and stretched, his face in a complete daze. "Kirito?" He shook his head. "Whatever, time to wake up. Sugu is going to be fussing over me if I sleep any longer..."

Hardly noticing Klein, he got out of bed and made the covers. Klein stared at him in shock. What in the world is Kirito doing?! He asked himself. He quickly grabbed Kirito and pushed him into a chair.

"Hey, Kirito! Wake up! Are you okay?" he asked as he shook the boy a bit. Kirito flinched but the drowsiness didn't leave his eyes.

"Of course, I'm fine. What are you doing? Did Sugu let you in? Or was it Okaa-san?" he asked tiredly as he tried to remove Klein's hands from his arms.

"What am I - I would be asking you the same thing! Kirito, you're not at home! Do you know who I am!?" Klein nearly exclaimed. Kirito blinked and shook his head again.

"Aren't you one of Rinko-nee-chan's workers?" he asked as he continued his attempt at getting Klein off him. Klein gave him a bewildered look.

"What? I don't even know who that is!" he said as he gripped Kirito in slight fear. It can't be possible that Kirito had lost his mind, did he? "Look, Kirito." he began firmly. "Right now, you're in a game called Sword Art Online. Three days ago, the creator of SAO had trapped all the players into a death game. And you are one of them."

Kirito frowned as he gave up trying to get Klein to let go of him and rubbed his eyes again. Part of the drowsiness had left. "SAO? A death game...? Akihiko?"

Klein waited impatiently. He could see that he was able to knock some sense into Kirito when he saw his eyes widen slightly.

"Wait... Klein?" he said as his focus was finally coming back. "What happened?"

Klein let out a relieved sigh and let his arms fall as he leaned back. "Thank, Kami-sama! I thought I lost you for a second there, Kirito. You suddenly collapsed three days ago. You hadn't moved at all so I thought something must've happened to you in the real world! Do you remember anything?"

Kirito closed his eyes and tried to remember something - anything - about that day. But all he came up with was the mechanical voice in his head. What the heck did that mean? He knew what system collaboration is but he didn't know what system his NerveGear is collaborating with! He bit the back off his bottom lip and decided not to say anything to Klein. If this had something to do with him and not anyone else, he will keep it to himself.

"I can't seem to remember anything," he replied as he straight-out lied to Klein. He felt guilty as he tried to convince himself that he did the right thing, keeping Klein, his first friend in an online game, in the dark.

Klein didn't seem to notice his lie as he nodded to himself. "I see... Then all this must be bad luck." he said.

"Must be. Hey, how long did you say I was out?" Kirito asked.

"Three days." came Klein's response. Kirito's eyes widened as he suddenly stood up.

"Three days?! I'm so behind!"

Klein raised his hands in a calming gesture. "Easy, Kirito! Look at your stats before jumping to conclusions."

Kirito opened up his menu and checked his stats. "I'm...level five? How? I thought I was still level one...!"

Klein laughed as he scratched the back of his head. "I forgot that you were still in my party..."

._._._._._.

Koujiro Rinko was ready to kick something. She was never the one to actually have the urge to do that, but when it came to a certain someone, she could not stop that urge. She had been looking for her patient's file medical for over an hour but she could not find it anywhere.

She clearly remembered placing the file on her desk in her office right before she left to get a cup of coffee. At first, she suspected that the nurses around the hospital took it, but when she asked around, she learned that none of the nurses were near her office and that one of them saw a shadowy figure walking around.

Rinko sat down behind her desk and thought hard of who in the world would take the file. No one came into mind until she heard another ambulance in a distance, no doubt bringing in another SAO victim.

Kayaba Akihiko must've stolen the file. But, if he stole it then why would he need it? As far as she was concerned, Kayaba didn't care much about the lives around him. Then she remembered who's medical file it was. The patient happened to have mental disorder that took his ability to walk for long distances because of an accident several years ago. Her eyes widened as realization dawned on her.

Kayaba Akihiko had stolen Kirigaya Kazuto's medical file.


	4. T h e  B o s s  M e e t i n g

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT: Just found out there were pieces missing to this.... And I added them in. DX

It was the second day of December in the year of 2022 when the sun began to reach overhead as Kirito wedged a chair under the door handle of his door. He backed away and bit the back of his lip. He wasn't sure if this would hold Klein back but he had to give it a try. One whole month with Klein has been driving him crazy. He's been mothered several times and it already began to bother him.

He sighed as walked over to his only window and opened it. A slight breeze ruffled his black hair as he looked up and down the street. Many NPC and players were walking around, giving Kirito a good diversion.

"Dang it, I really hope this works..." Kirito muttered under his breath. He hurriedly opened his menu. He quickly tapped through and stopped at Klein's name in his party. Ever since he woke up, Klein made sure that Kirito was in his party **at all times**. Kirito wasn't too happy about that since Klein can never seem to leave him alone. Klein kept him on a freakishly short leash that Kirito couldn't help but feel completely restrained, but he could understand Klein's worry. After all, who wouldn't be worried over someone who suddenly collapses in front of them?

His hand froze over the box notifying his request to leave the party. Kirito thought long and hard about this earlier. Once he leaves the party, he was planning to go and search for the meeting place that someone organized. He heard from one of Klein's friends that the other players found the first boss and that they're setting up a meeting to beat the boss. Kirito suggested that they go, but Klein was completely against the idea; and thus, making Kirito leave the party.

He shook his head and confirmed that he was leaving the party. Immediately after doing so, Klein's HP bar disappeared from under his own as he dismissed his menu and jumped out the window with slight ease. He landed clumsily, but he quickly recovered and took off on a full sprint. By now, he was sure Klein received the notification.

"Please don't catch me, please don't catch me," he muttered under his breath as he ran. He stammered short apologies to others as he quickly dodged the people who were in his way, player or not. With the general idea where the meeting is, he somehow managed to find his way to a small arena. Other players were already there, whispering amongst each other. Kirito took a seat at a random place to catch his breath. But the moment he sat down, he heard a notification bell ring out.

"Dang it!" he half whispered as he threw his head back in annoyance. He opened his menu again to find that Klein had sent him a message. Holding back a frustrated groan, Kirito opened the message.

**Klein:**

**WHERE ARE YOU??? Kirito, how many times do I have to tell you NOT TO GO OFF ON YOUR OWN??? Don't make me hunt you down, or I will, Kirito.**

Kirito rolled his eyes and sent a reply.

**Kirito:**

**Don't worry, Klein! I'm completely fine and there's absolutely nothing for you to worry about. Once I'm done, I'll join you later, okay? You're not my mom.**

He was about to dismiss his menu when another message popped up from Klein.

**Klein:**

**Don't worry?! I have every right to worry! What if you suddenly collapse in the middle of a battle?! Who's going to help you out?! Look, I know I'm not your mom but there has got to be something extremely wrong with your body in the real world if you slept that long.**

Kirito bit the back of his lip since Klein was right. He wasn't sure if his little episode a month ago was caused by his body in the real world, but he was sure on one thing. Klein is the most overprotective person ever! Kirito reluctantly typed his reply to Klein.

**Kirito:**

**I will say this again and will keep doing so until you get it. You have NOTHING to worry about. I'm not going to die in this death game.**

_Not until I find out why **he** is doing this_. He thought to himself. He finally dismissed his menu and promptly ignored another of Klein's messages. Someone clapped twice and called everyone's attention to the bottom of the arena.

"Alright, let's get started, everyone!"

All the talking quickly ceased as the meeting began. A player with blue green hair and eyes stood at the center with a smile on his face. He looked the age of a young adult with the brownish armor he wore. Kirito found it odd that someone can actually smile at this time of crisis. He shrugged it off and listened to the man spoke.

"Thanks for coming today. My name is Diabel. I like to consider my "job" as a Knight." the man introduced as he gestured to himself. Several others laughed at him.

"There are no jobs in this game!" one called out. Kirito rolled his eyes as everyone yelling their thoughts.

"Are you taking this seriously?" another called out. Diabel only smiled and waved his hands to calm everyone down.

"Alright, alright!" he said as his face suddenly became serious. "Today, our party found the boss room at the top of the tower."

Gasps of disbelief and surprise filled the air as everyone took in the information. Kirito kept silent.

"Are you serious?" said a player not too far from Kirito. Diabel nodded.

"We did. To get to the second floor, we need to beat the boss and tell everyone in the Town of Beginnings that there is still hope; hope that we can beat this game! And everyone here is going to help out!" he said as he clutched his right fist in front of him. "Do you guys agree?!"

The others nervously looked at each other and hesitantly agreed. Kirito grabbed his left arm as he felt a smile reach his mouth. Slowly but surely, everyone came to an agreement and cheered.

"Good! Now that all of us are on the same page, let's begin our plan to beat the boss." Diabel said. "First, let's divide into parties of six. After all, how can we beat the boss with a normal party? We'll need to attack the boss with several parties."

"Eh?" Kirito said dumbly as he blinked. "Crap..." He looked around to see everyone already in their party. All except one. A person with a red-ish brown cloak sat several feet away from him. Without much of a choice, Kirito stood up and walked over to her.

"Um...would you like to form a party with me?" he asked as he took a seat next to her. "I got left out, too."

"I wasn't left out." she said as she didn't turn her head toward him. "I stayed out of it since everyone already knew each other."

"A solo player?" Kirito asked as he tilted his head to the side a little. "Then, want to party with me?"

She turned her head in his direction. Kirito blinked as he continued talking. "Diabel said tha we can't beat the boss by ourselves. It'll be better to fight as a group. So, just this once?"

She didn't answer as she nodded once. Kirito opened up his menu and sent and invite to her. She accepted the invite and her HP bar appeared right under Kirito's. He blinked when he read the English characters of his new acquaintance.

**-ASUNA-**

"Okay, have you guys formed your parties?" Diabel's voice rang out. "Then-"

"Wait a minute!" interrupted a voice. Kirito looked up to see a shadowed figure standing at the top of the steps of the arena. The figure jumped down the steps with two long jumps and landed not too far from Diabel, who stood with a confused look on his face. Kirito watched with slight interest when the figure revealed himself to be another young adult with spiky red orange hair.

"My name's Kibaou. I wanna say something before we fight the boss." he said as his gaze swept the whole crowd, accusingly. "Some of you guys need to apologize to all of those two thousand players that died so far!" He pointed his pointer finger at the others.

Kirito resisted the urge to grab his right arm. He knew exactly where this was going. He heard it several times before when he was stuck with Klein.

"Kibaou-san," Diabel intervened, "-are you talking about the beta testers?"

"Of course I am!" Kibaou yelled at him. He turned to the crowd with his fists clenched. "On the first day this stupid death game started, the beta testers completely ditched us beginners, and cared more for their own survival! They took all the good places to hunt and the easy quests for themselves! All because they wanted to get stronger. And what about us? The rest of us? They completely forgot about us!" His expression became full of anger as he lifted a fist at the crowd. "I know one of you was a beta! They should get on their knees and apologize! They should give us all their items and money they took!"

He crossed his arms with a look of dissatisfaction on his face. "Or else, we cant trust them to protect us when we fight as a group!"

Kirito took in a deep breath to hide a flinch. True, he was a beta player and he intended to leave the moment the "tutorial" was over, but he never got the chance. He was stuck with Klein for the whole month! He shook his head and forced himself to calm down. He didn't want Asuna to notice how nervous he was getting.

At the corner of his sight, Kirito saw a ridiculously tall person walk up to Kibaou. His skin was the color of chocolate as his structure was muscular. A large axe was strapped to his back. Kirito could see that the player's chest plate armor was torn slightly. Kibaou stared up at him in shock.

"My name is Egil." the player said in a deep voice. "Tell me, Kibaou-san, if I have this correct. You're trying to say that because the beta testers didn't take care of them, many beginners died. That they should take on the responsibility of their deaths, apologize, and give us everything they earned. Right?"

Kibaou raised his shoulders a little and had a frustrated expression on his face. "Of course!"

Egil pulled out a dark brown book that was tiny in his large hand. "Didn't you get this guide book? It's free in the item store."

"Yeah, I did! Why? What's a book gotta do with this?" Kibaou asked.

"This book contains information about the game that the beta testers had given."

"Whoa, what?" said a player two rows down. Everyone who didn't know showed their surprise.

"Everyone has access to the information the beta players know." Egil said as he turned to face the crowd. "But even so, many players died. I thought that the reason we were here was to learn from their deaths so that we wouldn't make the same mistake twice; and how to defeat the boss."

Kirito let out a sigh of relief and relaxed slightly. Egil turned away from the crowd and looked down at Kibaou since he was so tall. Kibaou scowled and took a seat in the front with a humph. Egil took a seat not too far from him. Diabel nodded in satisfaction when the moment of unease passed.

"Alright," he said to gain everyone's attention. "Let's continue. Just recently, a new edition to that guide book was issued, and it has exactly what we need: information about the boss." He opened the book and scanned through it. "According to the book, the boss's name is Illfang, the Kobold Lord. Also, he's guarded by Ruin Kobold Sentinels. He is armed with an axe and a buckler. He has four health bars, and on the last bar goes red, he switches to a carved sword-type called Talwar. His attack patterns will change also."

Kirito listened as everyone marveled at the information. Since he was a beta tester, he inwardly checked if the information was true. The last detail seemed a bit off to him but he ignored it. Generally, the guide book was right, anyway. Diabel closed the book and looked up at everyone with a smile.

"And that's it! That's the end of the briefing. And before I forget, the items will be distributed automatically. The EXP will go to the party that beats the boss and whoever gets an item gets to keep it. Any questions?"

No one spoke up as they all agreed on the terms.

"Good, we'll leave tomorrow morning at ten." Diabel announced. He threw his right arm to the side. "I'll see you then!"

Everyone around Kirito either gathered around their party or left the arena. Kirito heard his partner get up and leave. He stared after her in quiet shock. _Surely she wanted to at least know who she's partying with...right?_ Kirito thought to himself. Once she disappeared from his sight, he turned to the center of the arena and watched Kibaou apologize to Diabel. He frowned when he suddenly remembered Klein.

Now, how is he going to avoid getting seen by-

"Hey, excuse me but have you seen a short teenager with black hair and eyes?" asked a familiar voice not too far away. Kirito snapped his head toward the voice to see Klein's back facing him. His eyes widened and he took off in a fast, but silent dash.

Kirito was oblivious to the look of knowing that crossed Diabel's features as he ran.


	5. T h e  B e a t e r

The lanterns flickered on as night quickly came. Kirito had just finished purchasing a loaf of black bread and a small jar of cream from a small bakery and looked for a place to relax. All day, he was trying to hide from Klein and his other used-to-be party members as they were searching for him. Sadly for him, they were practically everywhere. Kirito had to hide in the second floor of a NPC's house to keep away.

He stretched as he walked, trying to wake himself up. Looking around warily, he spotted the familiar figure of a hooded girl sitting on a ledge. She held a loaf of black bread in her small hands and just stared at it. Kirito stood in his place for a second and debated if he should go up to her. He watched her take a small bite of her bread. He sighed and took his first step toward her.

"It's a nice evening, huh?" Kirito said lamely. Asuna turned her head in his direction with a frown.

"Oh, it's you." she sighed as she turned back to her bread. Kirito fought the urge to frown and forced a smile.

"Aha... Can I sit here?" he asked politely. She didn't answer and decided to ignore him. Taking that as a yes, he sat next to her and took out a loaf of black bread. Kirito glanced over to Asuna. "I guess you like black bread, too. I know it tastes good by itself but if you add a bit of this..." Kirito digged through his pocket, brought of the small jar of cream and placed it in between them. "It'll taste a lot better."

He tapped the jar with his fingertips and quickly dragged them over the top of his bread. A white cream appeared on his bread. Kirito smiled when he heard Asuna gasp in surprise. He turned to her and slid the jar towards her. "Here, you try."

She hesitantly reached for if with her left hand and followed Kirito's example as she applied the cream. The jar shattered into tiny particles of data as a he took a small bite. Asuna froze for a couple seconds before suddenly inhaling the rest. Kirito watched her with wide eyes and slowly ate his own bread. She sighed in satisfaction.

"See, it's really good. I got the cream from a side quest I did with a couple others. I can show you if you want." Kirito said as he only ate half of his bread. A habit he got IRL. Asuna folded her hands on her lap.

"I didn't come to this town for good food." she said suddenly. Kirito rested his hand on his lap with the half eaten bread since he wasn't hungry anymore.

"Then why?" he asked. She didn't answer for a moment. Kirito thought of apologizing to her for asking suddenly but she spoke up.

"So, I can still be myself. I won't allow myself to rot away in this game - in this world. Not when I can still be myself. Even if a monster kills me, I won't let this world beat me. No matter what happens." she said. Kirito sat silently as she spoke. He inwardly smiled.

"Then, live. I don't want someone to die on me. Especially if you're in my party. Just... Don't die tomorrow." Kirito said. Asuna turned her head toward him.

"You, too."

._._._._._.

"Okay," Kirito began as he walked next to Asuna at the very back of the group of players. "Since we're the extras, we have to target the boss's helpers."

"I know." came Asuna's blunt reply.

"I'll use a sword skill and knock their axes upward. The moment I do, you ≪Switch≫ with me." Kirito continued.

"≪Switch≫?" Asuna asked. He gave her a disbelieving look.

"You don't know what ≪Switch≫ is?" he asked.

"No." said Asuna.

"Wait, is this your first time in a party?!" Kirito asked.

"Yes." Her answer was blunt and emotionless. Kirito stopped in his tracks and just stared at her in utter disbelief as she walked past him.

"You have got to be kidding me..." He muttered under his breath.

._._._._._.

An hour later, the whole group finally made it to the boss room. Kirito had told Asuna all he could about fighting in a party and all the other things that he thought were needed. Diabel stabbed his sword into the ground as everyone gathered around him.

"Alright everyone. I only have on thing to say: Let's win!" he said with strength and encouragement behind his words. Everyone nodded with agreement and determination. Kirito shared a quick glance with Asuna. Both of them sent each other a silent message as they told the other not to die.

"Let's go." Diabel said. Everyone readied themselves as he turned to open the doors of the boss room. Diabel entered first and everyone followed him with Kirito and Asuna at the back.

They entered a dark, ridiculously large throne room with caution. Kirito could see the faint outline of the boss at the end of the room. He drew his sword ≪Panzerstecher≫ with his right hand to ease the fear that began to build up.

The room suddenly erupted into colors as the room lit up. The Kobold Lord, Illfang, jumped from his throne and landed not too far ahead of the group, swinging his huge axe to show off. In front of him, several white lights appeared and revealed three Ruin Kobold Sentinels. With a loud roar, Illfang rushed forward.

Diabel pointed his sword toward the boss. "Commence attack!"

Everyone quickly jumped to action. Those who were assigned to the boss rushed past the Sentinels. Diabel yelled out orders and stayed at the back. Kirito held his sword up and made a quick dash toward the closest one and used his sword skill ≪Vertical Slash≫. The sentinel's axe was thrown up, just as Kirito predicted. He quickly jumped back.

"≪Switch≫!" he yelled. Immediately after his yell, Asuna zipped past him with a shocking speed. Kirito watched her with awe as she quickly attacked the sentinel with a sword skill. He began to wonder if she really was just a beginner. She was so fast that he couldn't really follow her movements.

The sentinel shattered into several bits of light from her attack. Kirito smiled.

"Good job, Asuna." he whispered to himself. Another sentinel approached him with the intent to harm and Kirito slashed at it with his sword. It backed away stunned. A loud roar caught his attention and he looked at the boss. Next to its face was three empty bars and one other in the red. Illfang was growling at the other players and threw his axe and shield away.

"Look like that book was right!" said Kibaou with a cocky smile.

"Stand back!" called Diabel. Everyone turned to Diabel's direction and quickly moved out of the way as he ran past them. "I got this!"

Kirito watched Diabel run toward Illfang. He felt that something was amiss.

"Wait, Diabel's not supposed to..." Kirito cut himself off as he caught Diabel's eye. Diabel smirked and continued to run as he started up a sword skill. Illfang reached behind himself and pulled out a sword. But it wasn't ≪Talwar≫. No, this sword was different. It was like a butcher's knife with two tips. Kirito felt his body run cold when he recognized the blade.

"≪No-Dachi≫!?" Kirito exclaimed in his head. He took a deep breath and yelled at the top of his lungs.

"NO! DON'T DO IT! JUMP BACK! JUMP BACK AS FAST AS YOU CAN!" he yelled desperately. But his warning came too late. Illfang jumped up and landed near the top of a pillar only to jump off to another. He leaped to several pillars as Diabel watched in confusion. He suddenly dashed at Diabel and slashed at him, leaving a gaping red gash in his avatar. Kirito froze in place as he felt helpless. Diabel was thrown mercilessly into the air.

"DIABEL!" Kibaou cried out. Illfang suddenly appeared behind him and the other players. He spun on his heel and jumped away. Illfang growled horrifyingly.

Kirito abandoned his place and quickly ran over Diabel. He fell to his knees beside him and supported him with his right arm. Diabel's HP was quickly declining to the edge of his HP bar.

"Why did you go alone?!" Kirito asked with worry lacing his voice. He quickly dug into his pocket and pulled out a potion and brought it to Diabel's mouth, but was stopped by a hand. Diabel's hand.

Kirito froze and his eyes widened in horror. "Why-"

"You were...a beta tester, weren't you?" he asked as he started directly into Kirito's eyes. "You know what I was after."

Realization dawned on Kirito and his eyes immediately became sad. "You were after the last attack rare item. So, you were a beta tester, too."

Diabel struggled a smile. "Please... Defeat...Defeat the boss...for the sake of everyone else." he said. Kirito was about to say something but Diabel suddenly shattered into particles of light.

"Whoa! Wait!" Kirito breathed out as he watched the fragments float upward. A feeling of dread crashed upon him when he felt the weight of Diabel's words fall on his shoulders. Diabel had been a beta tester that did what he couldn't do. He lead the other players and helped them out. Kirito could do nothing but stand at the side and barely have a say in things.

A quick flash of pain streaked through the back of his head. He held back a cry of pain and forced himself to stand up. Kirito tightened his grip on his sword, half of the reason was the determination and guilt he felt and the other was for the sharp pain in his head. Asuna appeared next to him in a flash.

"I'll go with you." she said quietly. Kirito closed his eyes and willed the pain to go away, but it didn't happen. He forced himself glance at Asuna.

"Thanks." Without another word, the two dashed forward and headed straight to the boss. Kirito readied his sword.

"We'll use the same tactic we used for the sentinels!" Kirito yelled as they neared the deranged Illfang.

"Right!" Asuna replied. Illfang noticed the two approaching and knocked any players out of the way. He brought his sword to his side and activated a sword skill. Kirito repeated his action as a counter. With a battle cry, Kirito slashed his sword, colliding with Illfang's ≪No-Dachi≫.

"≪Switch≫!" he yelled as he was pushed aside. Asuna dashed in front of Illfang while he was dazed, but he recovered faster than expected. Kirito immediately yelled out her name desperately.

"ASUNA!"

She looked up and dodged just before Illfang was able to strike her. Her red cloak was destroyed and finally revealed her long hazelnut colored hair. She quickly recovered and activated her sword skill and thrusted forward. Illfang was thrown back.

Kirito was a bit dazed by both the attack and Asuna, but he quickly snapped out of it and stood up. "He's coming back!"

He dashed up to Illfang and threw him off with another sword skill. Asuna rushed in and jabbed Illfang in the stomach. He stumbled back and came back again, catching Asuna off guard. Kirito was quick to save her and blocked the attack. Illfang roared in anger and brought his sword down heavily on Kirito several times, but each one was blocked.

With another cry of anger, Illfang slashed at Kirito horizontally. Kirito felt his sword fling upward and immediately tightened his grip. It was then when he realized he was wide open. Illfang brought his sword back and slashed at Kirito.

Kirito was flung back by the force of the attack as he rammed into Asuna, taking her with him. They were thrown back several feet back and Asuna had to take the rough landing. His sword flew out of his hands and skidded to a halt. Asuna saw Kirito's HP go down by half and was quick to help support him. A shadow loomed over them as Illfang raised his sword above his head.

"Ah!" Asuna closed her eyes and raised her sword to block the attack but felt a strong gust of wind behind her. She opened her eyes to see Agil standing before them. He lowered his axe as the other players rushed past them to distract Illfang.

"We'll hold him off while you recover." he told Kirito. Before Kirito could say anything, Agil already rushed into the fray.

The pain in his head intensified and Kirito bit the back of his lip to keep from crying out. He forced himself to get up as he watched the other players fight Illfang. For a second, it seemed that they had the upper hand until Illfang activated yet another sword skill. He swung his sword and knocked everyone out of the way. And suddenly, he jumped.

"Oh, crap!" Kirito cried out as he leapt to his feet, dashing toward Illfang. He jumped up and activated a sword skill of his own. "No, you won't hit them!"

He slashed downward and sent Illfang crashing to the ground. Kirito landed clumsily and ignored the pain his head. He ran toward Illfang.

"Asuna!" he called out, "One more hit! We'll do it together!"

Asuna got up from her place and ran to Kirito. "Right!"

The two ran next to each other and ran at full speed to Illfang. The Kobold Lord roared when he was struck with Kirito's sword.

Slash!

Illfang was knocked back by Asuna's sword as it cut through him.

Slash!

Kirito's blade came shortly after as he was knocked further back.

Slash!

Asuna's sword slashed his side.

Slash!

Kirito's sword cut his chest.

Slash!

Illfang roared when Asuna's sword cut across his stomach. Kirito charged up his sword and unleashed a sword skill.

"Riaaaaaaaaaaah!" cried Kirito as he dug his sword from the bottom of Illfang's stomach and pulled it upward with both hands. His sword pulled free from the Kobold Lord.

Illfang flew up into the air and glowed white before shattering into tiny particles of data. Kirito landed on his feet and stood there for a moment before collapsing to his knee.

"We-we did it!" stuttered a player. Everyone suddenly erupted in to cheers as the "Congratulations!" notification showed up. Kirito was at the back trying to catch his breath and hoping that the pain in his head would go away. In front of him, was a window saying, "Congratulations! You got the last attacking bonus! You got the ≪Coat of Midnight≫!"

"Good job." said Asuna behind him. Kirito turned to see her standing next to Agil.

"Good swordsmanship. Congratulations." Agil said with a smile. "This victory belongs to you."

Kirito turned away and shook his head. "No..."

But even when he denied it, everyone cheered for him. He stared at them with slight surprise. Kirito was about to get up when someone stopped him.

"Why?!" Kibaou yelled. Everyone turned to him in shock. "Why did you let Diabel die?!"

"E-eh? 'Let him die'...?" Kirito asked as he tried to blink away the pain.

"Yeah! You knew what sword the boss was using!" Kibaou cried out. "If you told us earlier, then Diabel wouldn't have died!"

One of the players suddenly pointed an accusing finger at Kirito. "He must've been one to the beta testers! He must have known all the attack patterns and never told us! There are other beta tester here, right? Come out!"

Everyone fell into a tense silence as they looked accusingly at each other. Kirito frowned. He knew that if this were prolong any longer, then no one would ever trust each other. He turned away and saw that his window was still open. Dread began to grow again when an idea came into mind. It was a risky one, but there wasn't much if a choice. Kirito had to do this. He swallowed his fear and pain and forced himself to go with his plan.

"Oi, will you cut this out?" Agil asked. A loud mocking laughter echoed through the room and caught everyone's attention.

They all traced it to the small, frail looking boy kneeling on the ground. Kirito forced himself to get up. His dark bangs covered his eyes as he faced everyone.

"A beta tester?" he began as he walked through the crowd. "Don't go comparing me with those idiots."

"W-what?!" Kibaou yelled as he got up.

"Those thousand players were beginners. They didn't even had the slightest idea of how to level up. You guys are better than them." Kirito walked past Agil and Asuna and stood before Kibaou. "I am nothing like them. During the beta, I made it higher than anyone else. I knew the boss's pattern because I've fought a monster with katana sword skills in the floors far above us. I know a lot more, too. More than any information broker."

Kirito mustered his courage to talk and act like a cocky brat. He never done it before, but he desperately needed to do so. He couldn't let the other beta testers suffer anymore players accusing them. He must've pulled it off when he saw the look of horror and shock on Kibaou's face.

"T-that's worse than a beta tester!" he stammered as he took a step back. "You're a-a-a cheater! No, a beater!"

Kirito faked a dark smile. "Beater... Sounds good. I like it."

He opened his menu as he spoke. "From now on, I am a beater. Don't confuse me with any other beta tester." With that, he equipped the ≪Coat of Midnight≫. It appeared suddenly and reached down to his ankles. It was a simple black coat. He gave Kibaou a final, cocky smirk before turning away and heading upstairs to unlock the second floor.

No one bothered to intercept him as he passed them.

._._._._._.

After Kirito was sure no one was following him, he took a seat at a step and grabbed his head. It was pounding and it seemed like the pain just became unbearable. He knew that in the real world, he wouldn't live for much longer.

Kirito sighed and buried his face in his hands. "Please don't tell me I just made everything worse." He wasn't aware of the footsteps that were climbing up the stairs.

"Hey!"

Kirito looked up and saw Asuna not too far away. "Asuna..."

She looked flustered, most likely from running up the steps. She gave Kirito a serious look. "How do you know my name? I don't ever recall you ever saying it."

Kirito stared at her for a second. "Do you see little HP bar underneath your own at the top left corner of your eye...?" he asked. Asuna looked to her left and blinked.

"Kirito...?" she said. He got up and ignored the biting pain as he turned away from her. She laughed to herself. "Wow, your name was right there all along."

"Yeah. Listen, Asuna." Kirito said without looking at her. "You can't party with me anymore. Go and find a guild that will accept you. You'll survive that way."

There was a slight pause.

"What about you?" she asked. Kirito shook his head.

"I can't. I have to go on alone." he said, more to himself than Asuna. He climbed the last remaining steps and opened the door. Opening his menu, he removed Asuna from his party. "Just live."

Asuna blinked at the window that popped up saying that she was removed from the party. She quickly dismissed it and took a step to follow him but when she blinked, he wasn't there. Well, he was there, but he disappeared. She looked around and found absolutely no trace of him. Her eyes widened.

"He's...gone..."


	6. Chapter 6: T h e  H i d e - a n d - S e e k  G a m e

Chapter 6: T h e H i d e - a n d - S e e k G a m e

The pain in his head had faded to a dull thump. Kirito knew something was wrong. He didn't how, or what was wrong, but he just knew. After he stepped through those doors to the second floor, everything just turned black. Oddly, the game screen was still there: his HP and the time.

5:57.

Five hours after they defeated the boss. He knew he didn't collapse again since he didn't feel the all too familiar pain from falling over. He tried to raise his hands up to get his bearings, but they didn't twitch. A small tad of worry reached him when he tried to move anything else. Nothing moved.

Then, suddenly, his eyes snapped open. He had a clear view of red-orange clouds lazily drifting across the sky, but the sun was no where in sight. Panicking, he tried to move around. The only thing that he could move was his eyes.

"What-" he began.

"Are you having fun, Ka-no, Kirito-kun? You've been playing for a whole month." said a familiar voice behind him. Kirito blinked. He recognized the voice but he couldn't place a face.

"Who...?" he subconsciously asked. He heard the voice behind him chuckle.

"I'm a little concerned about your impaired speech. Hopefully you can talk normally here. I never actually asked you about this during the beta. Maybe I should ask you now..." the voice said. Kirito furrowed his eyebrows.

"Impaired speech? How do you...who are you?" he asked. He tried to face the speaker, but his body wouldn't move.

"Don't tell me you already forgot the sound of my voice." the voice said with a hint of hurt. Kirito closed his eyes and tried to remember. Suddenly, he saw a picture of a man with short grayish hair and small black eyes as he reached over to pat Kirito on the head with a smile, but no name. He opened his eyes slowly with sadness and confusion.

"Who...?" he asked as he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"You know what? Forget it. Let's make things a little more interesting, shall we?" the voice said. "How about the two of us play a little game? It's a simple one."

"A game in a game? You have to tell me who you are first." said Kirito. The hand left his shoulder.

"That's the point of the game, Kirito." the voice sighed. "If you can find me, you have to beat me. Beat me in battle and I'll bring you 'home'. See? A simple game of hide-and-seek. We used to always play these games together when you were younger."

"'Hide-and-seek? That doesn't really sound like it. It's more like a hunting game to me..." Kirito trailed off. The voice behind him chuckled.

"True... Then how about you find me before I find you? So, if I find you first and I beat you, I will bring your level back to one and you have start all over again right where you are. But if you find me first and you beat me, then I will grant you one request." the voice said. "Sound fair?"

Kirito's eyes narrowed. "It doesn't. You know what I look like already, but I don't know what you look like. Hardly fair."

There was a pause before the voice came again.

"Now, that isn't true. I'm only seeing the back of you. I'm sure the next time we meet you wouldn't be wearing the same thing. We might not even notice it." the voice said. Kirito could hear the smile in its tone.

"You know my name." Kirito countered. The voice laughed.

"I'm not going to remember it. I can't help but think of your IRL name. I won't remember it when you leave this area, though." the voice said.

"Are you lying?" Kirito asked.

"No, you always had a knack of detecting lies." came the immediate response from the voice. Kirito was about to answer but was cut off by something-or rather-someone.

Someone pushed him from behind and he felt himself falling. Kirito saw a huge metal object floating before him. It was shaped like a gigantic cocoon with thorns stabbed inside. A majestic gold castle glistened in the honey colored light as it sat at the top of the cocoon, screaming its importance.

The castle came closer and closer by the second. Kirito finally regained his mobility of his body. He brought his arms in hope to lessen the raging wind blowing into his face. He couldn't tell of he was screaming, but he knew his voice started low and gradually crescendo to a terrified cry.

"WWWAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

Everything went black.

._._._._._._.

SYSTEM COLLABORATION AT TWO PERCENT.

._._._._._._.

He suddenly sat up and his breathing was erratic. He could feel his heart racing even though he was in a game. He brought his hands to his chest and tried to calm himself down.

Kirito closed his eyes.

"I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine." he kept saying to himself. He repeated those same words between breathes over and over and over again until those words became a jumbled mess tumbling out of his mouth. It took him a while, but after thirty long minutes, he was finally able to breathe normally.

He opened his eyes and took a good long look around him. Green fields of endless grass surrounded him and the ceiling was red-orange from the setting sun. He was back in Aincrad. He knew where he was right off the bat.

"Why am I back on the first floor?" he asked out loud. Fearing that his profile may have been messed with, he quickly opened his menu and checked his stats.

LV: 12

STR: 35

INT: 21

VIT: 28

DEF: 33

SEARCHING: 29/1000

TRACKING: 23/1000

SPRINTING: 30/100

HIDING: 19/1000

No change there. Kirito just noticed the black sleeve covering his arm. He dismissed his menu and held his hands before him. His arms were covered by the item he received as the last hit bonus.

Kirito dropped his hands on his lap and grimaced at the memory. He didn't like what he did, but it had to be done. Shaking his head to clear it, he remembered ending up at some weird place.

He looked at his hands and thought about the game he was suddenly dragged into. Well, another game to be exact.

Kirito figured out who was the guy talking to him. The creator that trapped thousands of players. He sighed and brought his knees to his chest.

"Damn it, this is exactly why I didn't want to play this game in the first place." Kirito muttered to himself. He sat there and thought about what he should do. Should he go back to the second floor? Or should he try to find something important to do while he was here in the first floor?

As he thought, he remembered a side quest he did during the beta. It was an easy one that got him a really good sword. Kirito looked up and decided to head to the closest town or village. He got up, dusted himself off, and began his long walk.

But as he walked he couldn't help but hear the same words echo through his head.

"Beat me and I'll bring you 'home'."

His eyes saddened and remembered his sister. "You're good at lying, Aki-nii-chan. I don't ever recall playing hide-and-seek with you before. Only me and Sugu played that game."


	7. Chapter 7: T h e  W i s h  T h a t  H e  G r a n t e d

Chapter 7: T h e W i s h T h a t H e G r a n t e d

The moon had risen and the stars twinkled beside it. The hospital below was silent and most of the lights were out. Many of the doctors had left for the day and the night nurses had began their shifts. Rinko walked down the empty hospital halls with a heavy heart. She just finished her shift but she had no intention of going home. Every night for the past month and a half, she would walk down the empty halls and stop in front a room.

Tonight was no different. She stopped in front of room 274 and frowned. She reached for the doorknob and twisted it. The door clicked open and Rinko entered the dark room. She closed the door behind her silently.

A loud clank echoed through the room made Rinko alert. Someone was here. Without a second thought, she went to the closest cabinet and quietly opened it. She grabbed a surgery scalpel from the emergency kits and silently advanced further in the room.

A dark figure stood next to the only bed in the room as they held the frail hand of a teenager. She crept up to the figure and raised the scalpel, but was stopped by the figure's voice.

"Rinko."

She dropped the scalpel in shock and backed away. "Kayaba-san?!"

Kayaba turned to face her as she backed up to the wall. Rinko felt for the light switch and flicked it on. Kayaba stood before her with a dark zipped up brown jacket and dark blue jeans. He had a sorrowful expression on his face as he stared at her.

"Kayaba-san, what are you doing here?!" Rinko demanded. He placed his forefinger to his lips to silence her.

"You don't want everyone to know I'm here, do you?" he whispered. Rinko curled her hands into fists.

"Like I care! Now tell me, why are you here!" she half-yelled. Kayaba face palmed.

"Alright, alright. I just wanted to see Kazuto-kun." he answered. Rinko glared at him.

"Liar." she said through gritted teeth. She walked past him and took a seat next to the "sleeping" teen's bedside. Eyes softening, she held on to the teen's soft, yet frail hand. Rinko's anger toward Kayaba faded, and sorrow filled her. She couldn't understand why, but when she was near Kazuto, any anger or irritation would disappear in an instant. Instead, sorrow would take its place.

"Why are you doing this, Kayaba-san? What did he do to deserve this?" Rinko asked Kayaba.

Kayaba sighed and flicked the lights off. He obviously didn't want to be discovered. He walked to the right side of Kazuto's side and took his other hand.

"It's not his fault. It's those stupid drivers who can't drive." Kayaba began. Rinko stared at him as he continued. "If only those accidents didn't happen, then he wouldn't be in so much pain. He would've been able to run and have fun like any normal teenager. He would've been able to speak normally just like us. Haven't you ever wished that he lived a normal life?"

Rinko looked away to hide the tears threatening to fall. "I won't lie," she said. She faced Kayaba with a look of hurt. "I had those wishes, but what is done is done. All that happened to Kazuto-kun was probably unintended but it still happened."

"Rinko, he had a wish." Kayaba said with a strain in his voice. "He wanted to do kendo with his sister. He wanted go outside without the fear of getting hit by a car. His wish was to be normal, Rinko." He closed his eyes and squeezed Kazuto's hand to keep his rising temper down. Rinko sighed.

"And you tried to grant it." she stated. Kayaba shook his head and opened his eyes.

"I didn't try to grant it." he said, firmly. "I granted his wish. I created this game and system for not only myself, but for Kazuto-kun. Heck, even half the game is based on his imagination. By creating Sword Art Online, Kazuto-kun can run, talk, and have the joy and excitement of a normal kid his age!"

"But playing a game that ends in death isn't fun, Kayaba-san! Trapping ten thousand players'-including Kazuto-kun's-consciousness in that game isn't his wish, but yours." Rinko countered. She began to realize what Kayaba truly intended to do. "You can't possibly think that you can extend his life with this game, do you?!"

He words hung in the air as Kayaba reached his empty hand to Kazuto's face. Quiet, slow but steady beeps echoed in the silence as he brushed aside the black bangs that covered the teen's eyes before answering.

"I wouldn't want him to leave us and his family without the joy of living. His mother never told him yet, and I intend to keep it that way. Suguha-chan already knows how much time he has left." he said with a serious tone. Rinko's eyes widened in shock.

"You mean, you're going to let him live in this game for the rest of his days and not with his family? He's surrounded by strangers, and you know how he interacts with others! His body will shut down on him if he remains this way! His health has been steadily decreasing ever since he got here. He'll die, Akihiko-kun!" Rinko said as her voice grew to a half-yell. She was clutching Kazuto's hand harder than she expected and immediately loosened her grip.

"It's the same thing, either way. If he keeps moving his body can't handle the stress that he'll eventually encounter. If anything, he'll live longer if he stays in one place for a while." Kayaba said as he tried to convince Rinko that he was doing this with good intentions. "Like Yuuki-chan, for example."

Rinko shook her head. "Yuuki-chan and Kazuto-kun are two different cases, Kayaba-san. Either way, Kazuto-kun won't make it. He was born with a weak body in the first place. It's just a miracle in itself that he was able to survive that last accident four years ago."

"All the more reason for him to play SAO." whispered Kayaba. "He's bound to die at an early age and at any time. Just give this a chance, Rinko."

"And what if he dies, Kayaba-san?" Rinko asked with a serious look in her eyes. "What if he dies in the game? Along with the other normal players you trapped? What will you do then?"

"He won't die." Kayaba answered as he stared back into her eyes. "If he's desperate to come back to this dying reality of his, he won't die. If anything, he'll be trying to get back to Suguha-chan."

Rinko looked away and watched the heart monitor next to her. The line pulsed as it mimicked the beating of Kazuto's heart with a tiny beep. She frowned at the long pauses between each beep. "I doubt that this was the wish Kazuto-kun wanted. Living in a game full with traps along the path and death at every corner, is the same thing as living in reality to Kazuto-kun."

Kayaba glared at her and got up as he released Kazuto's hand. "Living in the real world is not the same thing as a virtual reality, Rinko. There are more things in the virtual world that Kazuto-kun can do than the real world."

Without waiting for her reply, Kayaba left the room in a hurried, but silent fashion. Rinko continued to sit in her place when she heard the door click closed. She lifted Kazuto's limp hand to her lips and began to silently cry. Over and over, she couldn't stop herself muttering the same three words into his frail hand.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry..."


	8. Chapter 8: T h e  B l u n t  R e f u s a l

Chapter 8: T h e B l u n t R e f u s a l

Kirito was completely out of his comfort zone. Earlier, when he heard the cries for help, he just had to go help them out. He wasn't expecting anything in return once he saved them. In fact, he couldn't get a word in when their leader decided to drag him along to celebrate their victory ('Or maybe their lives...?' thought Kirito).

And he regretted not talking when he should've.

"Cheers to the Black Cats of the Full Moon!"

"Cheers!"

Five teenagers lifted a mug with huge smiles. They took a sip before raising it again, this time towards Kirito, who was sitting at the end of the table holding a cup with a dumbfounded face.

"And to Kirito, who saved our lives!" cried their leader, Keita.

"Cheers!"

Kirito raised his cup by an inch and no more than that. Everyone broke into laughter and rejoiced the fact they were still alive. Keita stood next to Kirito and smiled.

"Thanks again for saving us back there!" he said as a girl dressed in blue came over.

"Yeah, thank you, Kirito-san. I was so scared." said the girl. Kirito nodded when the other members thanked him.

"I-it was nothing..." he trailed off. The girl had tears forming in her eyes when she continued on.

"I thought I was going to die until you came to save us." she said as she wiped a tear away. Keita leaned forward.

"Nee, Kirito-san, I don't mean to be rude," he said, "but may I ask you what your level is?"

Kirito blinked and looked over to his HP. He saw the small two digit number. Level 40. He looked back to Keita and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, I don't want to say..." he answered. Keita laughed.

"Haha, no, it's fine!" he said. "It's my fault for asking. But, I was wondering if you're around our level. If you are then you can join our guild."

Kirito stiffened as he stared at him. Keita didn't seem to notice as he continued to ramble on.

"I'm sure you'll fit right in. I mean, everyone in the guild is actually the computer club at school." he said. He gestured to the girl next to him. "This girl here is Sachi. I've been trying to get her to fight in the front lines but she just can't seem to do it. Maybe if you join us, she'll get some self-confidence."

Sachi's face flushed in embarrassment. "You make me sound useless!"

The group shared a good laugh. Keita patted Sachi on the head with a smile. "I'm not embarrassing you, I'm just introducing you to Kirito-san."

Kirito hid a flinch and placed his cup down.

"I'm sorry," he said as he stood up. "But, I have to go."

"Ah, wait!" Sachi said as she raised her hand. "Please consider it, Kirito-san! It's better if we all stick together."

Kirito shook his head and walked right past her. She reached out to grab his arm, but Keita stopped her.

"Sachi, it's okay." he said. "If he doesn't want to join, then he doesn't."

Kirito turned to look at them and gave an apologetic smile. "I'm really sorry. I would join you but I can't right now. It's just that there's something I have to do."

Sachi tilted her head. "May I ask what that is?"

"Sachi! That's his business." said one of the other members. He turned to Kirito and gave an apologetic nod. "I'm sorry, Kirito-san."

Kirito shook his head and forced smile. "No, no, it's fine. I just need to find someone as soon as I can."

Keita stepped up. "Maybe we can help."

Kirito shook his head again. "No, I can handle it. He doesn't like other people, unfortunately. Ah! No offense."

Keita raised his hand dismissively. "None taken."

That was true. The person Kirito was talking about really doesn't care if someone is alive or dead or even existed. Oddly, Kirito's family members, Kirito, and the nurse at a certain hospital were all an exception.

Keita frowned. "I guess there isn't anything we can do to convince you, huh?"

"Sorry." Kirito apologized. Sachi smiled with a hint of disappointment.

"It's...fine, Kirito-san. Maybe next time?" she asked. Kirito closed his eyes and thought about it. It was highly unlikely that he would meet these people again, but just to keep their spirits up...

"Sure, why not?" he said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. If any of the members noticed, they didn't show it. They all gave Kirito warm smiles.

"Great! Let's meet again soon!" said the blonde haired member.

"Yeah!" agreed the other one. Sachi just nodded. Keita walked up to Kirito and held out his hand.

"Promise?" he asked. Kirito nodded and shook the outstretched hand.

"Promise." Kirito said. Without another word, he released Keita's hand and walked out of the restaurant. He took ten steps before pausing in his place. He looked back and regretted leaving them. Maybe he should've joined them. He could've gotten a chance to actually work with others for once.

No. He couldn't.

He had no choice. If he were to join them, then he would lose precious time searching for "Aki-nii-chan". Kirito didn't want to waste time. He knew he was being selfish, but he doesn't want to be "found". Nor does he want to loose everything he worked so hard for. He had to find him and beat him at his own game.

In both real life and virtual reality, he couldn't afford to lose.

Kirito stood there for a moment longer and turned away. He walked down the partially crowded streets as he tried to repress the urge to turn on his heel and run back to the restaurant.

To focused on his thoughts, he felt someone grab his arm and hold him back. He was about to shove the person away, but was stopped by a familiar voice.

"Hey, are you the Black Swordsman?"

The person who grabbed his arm pulled him to face them. A girl with long chestnut hair stood there with a clear look of surprise and a hint of relief in her hazel eyes. Kirito blinked.

"A-Asuna...?" he stuttered as he took in her appearance. She was wearing a color scheme of white and red. A sword was strapped to her left side.

"Kirito?! You're the Black Swordsman?!" Asuna exclaimed. Kirito raised an eyebrow.

"'Black Swordsman'?" Kirito asked in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

Asuna took a step back in slight surprise. "You haven't heard? Lately, there's been a solo player that dresses in black with an outrageous talent with a sword. Players are saying that he's probably one of the strongest players so far!"

Kirito gaped at her. "This is the first time I ever heard of this. Are you sure they were talking about me? It could've been someone else."

She shook her head in defiance. "No, I'm sure it was you. After all, you are dressed in black."

Kirito, by habit, looked down to check his attire. And sure enough, he was dressed in all black. He frowned and decided to change the subject. "Okay, you got me. What are you doing here, anyway?

She smiled worriedly. "I was just walking around and then I saw you. I thought you were someone else and I just wanted to ask if you were the Black Swordsman. Where have you been? Wait-let me rephrase that question-where did you disappear to?! Nothing bad happened, right?"

Kirito stood there stunned. He was a bit surprised to see Asuna, but was overwhelmed with the questions thrown at him. Blinking slowly, he answered her. "I've been, ah...h-how have you been?"

"I'm doing just fi-Hey, don't go changing the subject, Kirito-san!" Asuna exclaimed as her face flushed bright red. Kirito brought his hand to cover a smile and coughed to halt his upcoming laugh. He nearly froze in shock. That was the first time he laughed since the death game started.

"Sorry, sorry." he apologized. He cleared his throat and lowered his hand. "What were you asking again?"

Asuna stammered her words as she fought down her embarrassment. "Where did you disappear to? I haven't seen you since the day you disappeared! I was worried something bad happened to you!"

Her voiced raised and caught the attention of passing players. Kirito was aware of the looks of jealousy and envy he was getting. He noticed that some of them were pointing at them; more specifically, Asuna. He looked around for a place to talk but found nothing near by. Feeling a tinge of nervousness, he turned to Asuna.

"Asuna, is there some place that we can go? Away from everyone?" he asked with a hint of fear. Asuna seemed to take notice and nodded.

"Does my place sound good?" she asked. Kirito gave her a confused look.

"Your place? You have a 'stationary' place?" he questioned. She smiled.

"Um, you could call it that." she said. She took Kirito's hand and began to guide him to the teleportation area. He bit the back of his lip and reluctantly followed her.

"I did what you told me to do." Asuna said out of the blue.

"Eh?" Kirito said blankly since he didn't understand what she meant. She gave him a you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me look.

"I joined a guild, Kirito-san." she said. "I joined the Knights of the Blood Oath."

Kirito immediately halted in his steps and frowned. "You're not going to ask me to join, are you?"

"Ah..." Asuna smiled sheepishly. "Maybe...?"


	9. Chapter 9: T h e  P r o m i s e  M a d e  T h a t  D a y

Chapter 9: T h e P r o m i s e s M a d e T h a t D a y

"Please?"

"No."

Asuna frowned and rested her forearms on the table. "Come on, Kirito. At least consider it. No one should always be ≪Solo≫."

Kirito sighed for the umpteenth time that evening as he buried his face in the palm of his left hand. "Argh, for the last time, Asuna. I'm not joining the ≪Knights of the Blood Oath≫! I already have something to do, okay? So, please, stop begging me and just let me be."

Asuna gaped. "You've got to be kidding me!"

"I'm not." Kirito said quite bluntly. She sighed and finally gave up. Ever since they had a delicious dinner (made by Asuna who is an amazing cook. Kirito was surprised that it tasted just like his sister's but better), Asuna had been trying to get Kirito to join her guild. He refused each time without restraint. She knew that he was stubborn, but he was being ridiculous.

"Fine. I give up!" Asuna said as she threw up her hands to prove her point. "But, one question."

Kirito placed an elbow and rested his head on his hand. "Let me guess, why not?"

"No, I was going to ask if you want to come with me to see someone." Asuna said with a slight frown. He didn't answer immediately. "Well, do you?"

Kirito bit the back of his lip. "...well, that depends on who..."

Asuna rolled her eyes. "You know what, you're just gonna come with me." She opened up her menu and gave Kirito a party invite. Kirito stared at the little box is disbelief.

"Wait, now? I didn't even say I would!" he said. All of a sudden, he was scooted back his chair to avoid a butter knife in his face. Asuna was holding it with a smile.

"It's just for tomorrow. So, shut up and come with me." she said politely. Reluctant and slightly stressed, Kirito accepted the party invite. He glared at her as she smiled in triumph.

"This better be worth my time..." he muttered. Asuna's smile widened.

"Oh, it will. Tomorrow morning, we go to ≪26th Floor≫. Okay?" she asked. Kirito ran a hand through his hair and sighed heavily.

"Yeah. Sure. Okay." he replied, uninterested.

When Asuna forced him to stay over at her house and bidded him good night, Kirito just knew tomorrow will not be one of those boring "trying to clear this floor's dungeon" day.

._._._._._.

Asuna:  
Heathcliff, I would like to know if you can excuse me from my duties today. I made a promise to meet someone today and I intend to keep it. Is that okay?

Heathcliff:   
Of course, Sub-leader. Just for today. Tomorrow, I want you to come to HQ. I have something important to discuss with you.

Asuna:   
Sub-leader? I'm not a sub-leader.

Heathcliff:  
You are now. You just got promoted. I'll see you tomorrow and enjoy your day.

Asuna:  
Thank you so much! I won't let you down!

._._._._._.

Kirito sat on a bench on the side of the main road in the town of ≪Pinchle≫ while messing with the fabric of his black fingerless-gloves. Asuna was standing next to him and was searching through the crowds for the person they came to meet. For some odd reason, Kirito had the urge to run. Like he really shouldn't meet whoever they were waiting for. But for the sake of Asuna (and himself because he wanted to avoid Asuna's threat), he was forcing himself to be a good boy and stay.

He bit the back of his lip when he felt nervousness started to creep up on him. He looked up at Asuna who seemed really happy today. "You're perky this morning..."

Asuna smiled. "Of course, I'm happy! I just got promoted to be KoB's Sub Commander. Heathcliff, our leader, is giving me a day off."

"Oh, then...Congratulations, Sub Commander." Kirito said with a small polite smile. Asuna nodded her head in appreciation.

"Thank you, Kirito. It feels nice when it comes from you. Especially since you're the ≪Black Swordsman≫!" she said. Kirito rolled his eyes at the title. It was a name he never wanted and he didn't even want to acknowledge it. Then again, he never really had a say in things. Like last night.

Kirito sighed. "It's already 9:40. How long is this person gonna take? They were supposed to be here ten minutes ago."

Asuna frowned and placed her hands at her hips as she kept searching. "I don't know. He usually doesn't take this long."

"He?" Kirito asked with an eyebrow raised. "Just who are we meeting?"

Asuna's hand suddenly shot up as she frantically waved at someone. "Hey! Over here! Klein!"

All of Kirito's alarms went off in his head. He immediately spotted the familiar red haired player heading towards them. He was smiling as if he won a huge prize. Kirito quickly got up and made a run for it but Asuna was quick to catch his arm and shove him back on the bench.

"Oh, no you don't!" she said with a glint in her eye. "You're not getting away from me again."

Kirito nervously laughed. "Sorry...out of habit..."

"Kirito?" asked Klein as he approached the two. "You found Kirito?" He bypassed Asuna who just smiled and took a good long look at a shrinking Kirito. Minutes passed in silence.

Then Kirito broke it.

"Um...hi?"

Klein seemed to have snapped out of his stare when he suddenly bonked Kirito in the head with his gloved fist.

"Ow!" Kirito cried out in slight pain. He quickly protected his head with his hands as he glared at Klein. "What was that for!?"

"For making me worry! How would you feel if someone just suddenly up and left?!" Klein practically yelled. Kirito looked like a kicked puppy as he looked up at Klein. Asuna just stood by and watched, not daring to interrupt.

"I'm sorry! I swear I was just going to help with the boss battle and come back! I swear!" Kirito defended. "It's not like I had any choice in the matter!"

Klein crossed his arms and gave Kirito a stern look. "You could've came to us anyway! What makes you think we wouldn't accept you? Look, Kirito, the ≪Fuurinkazan Guild≫ is always open to you, okay? You need to start depending on others. You can't solo throughout the whole game."

Kirito brought his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them out of sheer habit. "Okay, okay, I get. But don't be so sure that I'll be joining your guild. Geez..."

"We'll see about that... Setting that aside, are you alright? Nothing weird or anything?" Klein asked as he looked over Kirito once more. The teen just smacked his hands away.

"I'm fine. Nothing's weird or anything." Kirito assured. He gave Klein and Asuna a curious look. "By the way, how did you two meet?"

Asuna laughed a little and shook her head. "I was just going around with Agil and where asking people if they seen you anywhere."

Klein stepped in. "And then I came up to her asking if she seen you. We were both surprised that we knew the same person, so we ended up trading friend codes. After that, we kept updating each other about rumors that might help lead us to you."

"Yup!" Asuna confirmed. "When Agil heard about the rumor of the ≪Black Swordsman≫, we figured that he might know about you since he was a soloist. I was surprised that he turned out to be you."

Kirito nodded. He was surprised that Klein and Asuna met each other because of him. Heck, even Agil was involved. "So, if Agil is involved with this, why isn't he here?"

"He has a shop to look over since he's a merchant." Klein answered. Kirito blinked.

"I thought so. I heard here and there about a merchant like him. All said that they were surprised how tall he is." he said. Both Asuna and Klein laughed.

"Of course, everyone says that." Klein said. Asuna shook her head and placed her hands on her hips.

"Well, since we're together, do you guys want to go monster hunting?" she asked. Kirito gave a small smile.

"I'm up for it." he said as he got up from the bench and brushed off his black coat.

"Why not? Let's see if Kirito really lives up to his name." Klein said with a carefree smile. Kirito gave him a confused look.

"What?" Realization crossed his face. "Oh. You mean the ≪Black Swordsman≫. I didn't even know I had a nickname..."

"Then it's settled. We go monster hunting!" said Asuna.

._._._._._.

"Kirito, switch!" Klein called out as he jumped back. Kirito quickly took his place and activated his sword skill ≪Horizontal≫. His blade glowed blue as he struck the ≪Killer Mantis≫. The creature stumbled back and rawred at the small party of three as its arm swung around. Kirito winced as the arm slashed at his upper right arm. He bit back his cry of pain and jumped away. His HP decreased by a tiny fraction.

"Asuna, switch!" he cried. Asuna dashed forward and finished off the mantis with her own swordskill. The creature screeched once last time before shattering into several peices. Klein sheathed his sword and grinned.

"That was too easy!" he said as Asuna sheathed hers as well. She brushed her chestnut behind her.

"Yeah, I don't know why I even chose this floor." she sighed. Kirito laughed tiredly as he, too, sheathed his sword behind his back.

"Well, that's what? The sixth one we encountered?" he asked with a hint of tiredness in his amused tone. His left hand gripped his right as he tried to ease the stinging pain. That wasn't the only place that hurt. His left leg was sending thousands of needles with every step he took and his side was completely sore. He sat down as his vision swam a bit. "Can we take a small break? I'm kinda tired."

Klein's eyebrows shot up. "'Tired?' Are you serious? I'm not even close to tired."

Kirito closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Well, I guess I'm not the ≪Black Swordsman≫ you guys claim I am."

Asuna gave him a concerned glance. "Why don't we go to the safe area and discuss this? It'll be easier to talk there."

"Not to mention, safer." Kirito added. Klein shrugged.

"Fine, let's go before Kirito falls asleep on us." he said with a slight frown. Kirito glared at him.

"I'm not that tired!" he exclaimed as he jumped up to his feet with what seemed like renewed energy when it was just pure will. Asuna just shook her head.

After a long walk with no encounters with monsters (thankfully), the threesome sat down on a ledge. Well, Klein oped to stand while Asuna sat down and Kirito practically laid down, curled up in a ball and fell asleep right then and there.

"Geez, this guy is a baby when he sleeps." Klein marveled as he squatted down to watch the teen sleep. Kirito's face was calm and carefree that it made him look like a girl instead or a child who tired himself out from a fun day. Asuna had her legs folded beneath her as she frowned.

"Hey, Klein." she addressed with a hint of worry. "Did you notice his actions earlier?"

Klein looked up with a confused look. "What do you mean? The way he fought? I would say he's not bad. I can see why they call him the ≪Black Swordsman≫. Actually, he seems to be...what was the phrase? Lacking something? Or was it more like hesitating?"

"I mean after each fight." Asuna clarified. Klein hummed as he moved to sit next to Asuna. Kirito seemed to have curled into a ball further.

"Oh, yeah. Durning the battle, all of us take a bit of damage. But, I did notice that he flinches each time he gets a small slash. I know he's at a level where the damage doesn't affect him as much on this floor, but...I don't know maybe I'm imagining things." Klein ranted. Asuna took it all in without disagreement.

"You're right. There might be something wrong. I mean after our last battle he was holding his arm as if he could feel pain. We're not supposed to are we? I mean, you don't feel pain when you get damage, right Klein?" Asuna asked.

Klein nodded. "Right. I thought that in this game we don't feel any pain. I don't think we're supposed to."

Asuna's gaze suddenly became serious. "Wait a minute. Let's just assume that Kirito can feel pain. If this game doesn't allow pain, then why can Kirito? Did something happen in the time he disappeared after the first floor boss was defeated?"

Klein's eyes widened when he suddenly remembered something. "Oh, crap! Asuna, after the tutorial, something happened."

She looked at him in confusion. "What?"

"Right after the barrier around the plaza disappeared, Kirito dragged me out of there." Klein began. "He wanted he to go with him to start clearing the game. Of course, I refused but just as he was about to leave, his avatar just completely shut down."

"Shut down?" interrupted Asuna. Klein nodded.

"Yeah--like collapsed! And that wasn't the weird part. I thought he was just sleeping, but he didn't move. He stayed like that for a whole week! He was like a dead rock or something." Klein explained. Realization dawned on Asuna.

"Something must have happened durning that whole week." she muttered. She looked up at Klein and saw suspicion in his eyes.

"Yeah," he replied. "It's either his IRL body, his NerveGear, or the SAO server. Whatever it is, it's singling Kirito out."

Asuna frowned. "Do you think he knows?"

"He's a beta tester, so I wouldn't be surprised if he does know about this." Klein answered. The two were so engrossed in their conversation, that they didn't notice their other companion as he sat up.

"You know," Kirito started as he caught their attention, "You guys talk too loud that I can't sleep."

"I'm sorry, Kirito." Asuna apologized with a small bow of her head. "I thought you were sleeping."

"Caught us red-handed, huh? Sorry, Kirito." Klein said as he scratched the back of his head. "How are you feeling though?"

Kirito forced grin. "Peachy. Just peachy."

Asuna frowned. "Is that in a good way or a bad way?"

"In a good way." he replied. He gave the two a stressed look. "Guys, can I trust you to keep this to yourself? I don't want this kind of thing leaking out... Can you imagine how the other players would think about this?"

"They would probably think that the same thing would happen to them, right?" Klein said with seriousness. "Don't worry, you can trust me."

Asuna nodded in agreement. "You can trust me, too. I won't say anything."

Kirito sighed in relief. "Thanks, guys."

Klein had a mischievous smile on his face as he got up and swung an arm around Kirito's waist, swinging him over his shoulder.

"Hey! Klein! W-what are you doing?!" Kirito cried as he banged his fists against Klein's back and frantically kicked his legs. "Put me down!"

Klein laughed. "After finding out what's wrong with you? I don't think so! You're stuck with me. And trust me, I'm keeping a close eye on you from now on!"

Kirito banged his fist one more time before giving up. "Don't I get a say in this?!"

Asuna stood up and dusted herself off. She looked up at Kirito with a sympathetic smile. "Unfortunately, I don't think so..."

"Asuna! Help me!" Kirito demanded as Klein began walking off. Asuna followed lose behind.

"Sorry, Kirito. But I'm going to let this pass." Asuna said. "I really think you should join a guild."

"I told you guys once, and I'm telling you guys again," Kirito stressed, "I'm not joining any guild! So, put me down!"

Kirito was completely ignored as the other two began to have a normal conversation about the weather.

"It's nice today, isn't it Asuna?" Klein asked.

"Yes. Yes, it's very nice today, Klein." Asuna answered.

"Don't ignore me!!"


	10. Chapter 10: The Guild Leader, Heathcliff

Chapter 10: T h e G u I l d L e a d e r , H e a t h c l i f f

Right after Klein took Kirito back with him, the ≪Fuurinkazan≫ guild members were relieved. In fact, all of them practically vowed to never let the "pesky little brat" get away ever again. Kirito, of course, denied ever being a brat.

Odd but not surprising, Kirito never officially joined the guild. He just stuck to them like glue; going out with Klein to map out an area or out on a quest with the guild members. Sometimes, one of the members (mostly Issin) would take Kirito wherever he wanted to go when Klein was busy with the Guild or other stuff. Of course, this slowed Kirito's constant leveling up drastically, but he took every opportunity to gain Exp. On some days, Asuna would hang out with him whenever she gets the chance to get away from her appointed bodyguard.

And today was just one of those days. Well...kind of.

._._._._._.

It was almost 11:00 when Kirito was sitting underneath the shade of a tree as he waited for Asuna and Klein to show up. Today, the three of them decided to take a little break from being in the front lines for over three months straight. Lately, Asuna's duty as a Sub Leader had been placing a bit of stress on her. It doesn't help when her dumb (Asuna said so herself) bodyguard, Kuradeel, is always tailing after her.

Klein just wanted to spend some quality time with them (although Kirito seriously doubted that since he always wakes up to a singing Klein in the morning, telling him to get up). It was pretty much quest after quest and exploring several places. Kirito didn't actually mind the constant activity. It gave him an excuse and some time to look for someone.

Kirito leaned against the tree and sighed. He knew that the first year anniversary of this death game was nearing and his time was running completely short. If he doesn't find the creator of SAO soon, he wouldn't-

"Issin said you would be here, Kirito!" came Klein's familiar, loud voice. The said teen rolled his eyes and mentally groaned.

"Well, I was bored." Kirito admitted with a frown. "Don't expect me to actually sit and uwait for you in that house for almost three hours."

Klein took a seat next to him and ruffled the teen's black hair. Kirito narrowed his eyes and leaned a bit away from his "leader".

"Oh, stop over exaggerating. It was only just for a little over two hours." Klein defended himself. Kirito gave him a side glare.

"Yeah, for exactly two hours, forty-eight minutes, and thirty-two seconds. Or, in other words, 10,080 seconds were spent sitting under a tree. You were supposed to be here 5,168 seconds ago." he said. Klein stared at him blankly. The teen rolled his eyes and sighed as he brought his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around it. "I meant an hour, twenty-six minutes, and eight seconds ago. I thought you would know that."

"Why are you even counting?"

"It's called boredom."

The two lapsed into silence as they waited for one more person. Kirito was half asleep when Klein finally spotted Asuna and her bodyguard running towards them. The two mentally groaned at the sight of the bodyguard. They met him once and Asuna nearly had to hold Kirito back from drawing his sword if Klein hadn't picked him up and physically carried him away using the "It's time to go!" excuse.

"Hey, Asuna!" Klein greeted as they came to a stop in front of them. "What took you a while?"

Kirito glared at Kuradeel, Asuna's bodyguard. "You made her 5,882 seconds late."

Kuradeel's face fumed red. "I did not make her late, you stupid boy!"

Asuna gave him a curious look before giving an apologetic smile as she plopped herself on the ground. "Kirito, sorry, don't mind him. He has no manners to anyone. I know I'm an hour, thirty-eight minutes, and two seconds late and we were supposed to take it easy today, but something else came up."

Klein's eye brows shot up. "Woah, woah! Wait a minute!" he said as he raised his hands. "You understood what Kirito meant?!"

Asuna gave him a confused look while Kuradeel narrowed his eyes. "Well, yeah. Of course. How could I not?"

The guild leader looked at her dejectedly while Kirito smirked. "You guys are pretty darn smart..."

"Are you saying that my Sub Leader wasn't?!" Kuradeel demanded. Klein glared at him and opened his mouth to defend himself, but Kirito gave him a sharp glare that told him to shut up.

"Anyway," Kirito said as he tried to veer the conversation back on course. "Asuna, what happened?"

The Sub Leader huffed and crossed her arms. "Before I left, Heathcliff wanted to speak with me and..."

"And...?" Klein prompted with a waiting expression. She sighed and gave the boys a weary frown.

"He asked to meet the ≪Black Swordsman≫." Asuna said. Kuradeel scoffed.

"I don't see why our leader should waste his time on a brat like him." he said. Kirito resisted the urge to get up and give him a good, nice roundhouse kick.

"What?" he asked with his eyebrows furrowed. "Why? I'm not causing any trouble."

Klein nodded in agreement. "Yeah, he's been stuck with me and my guild for three months-"

"Actually, Klein, it's three months, twelve days, fourteen hours-" Kirito was cutoff by Kuradeel.

"What? That brat's a smarta-"

"Don't finish that, please. We have enough on our hands." Asuna said with a sigh.

"-So, what could he do other than attempt to run away?" Klein said as he ignored the interruption.

Asuna shook her head. "It's not that. Heathcliff found out that one of my friends is actually the ≪Black Swordsman≫. Well, more like Kuradeel wouldn't stop complaining." She sent a glare at her bodyguard, who pretended not to notice.

"I kinda thought so." Kirito said with a sigh.

"He wants to meet Kirito in person and ask him a few questions..." She paused and gave him a questioning look. "Is that alright...?"

Klein frowned when Kirito stayed silent. "Well, there goes our day off."

"I, personally, think that this is just a waste of time. Why even bother to hang out with these-" Kuradeel began but Asuna cut him off with a slightly irritated tone.

"If you have better things to do at the current moment, then please. Feel free to go. I have no need for service right now. And besides, I have two of the strongest clearers at my side." she said with a smirk. Kuradeel's face darkened while Klein laughed.

"Haha! Yeah, don't worry! Your lovely Sub Leader is in safe hands!" he beamed.

Kirito sighed. "Sorry, Kuradeel. But he isn't lying. She really is in good hands. Heh, I guess I should say, I'm in good hands because she's here. Plus, Heathcliff may come."

The bodyguard narrowed his eyes as he placed a hand over his sword. "Is this a challenge?"

The teen laughed tonelessly. "Haha, naah~. Too lazy."

To prove his point, he fell to his back with his arms behind his head and closed his eyes. A stiff silent fell upon them as Kuradeel silently glared at the teen before turning to Asuna.

"If you need anything, I mean anything," he emphasized, "Please send me a message and I'll come running."

Without waiting for her reply, he left the three in a stormy fashion. Stomping away with clear frustration and annoyance. Klein couldn't help but laugh.

"Good! That got rid of him!" he said.

"Thanks, guys." Asuna said with a relieved smile. "I thought I was never going to get rid of him. I swear, he's like a stalker!"

"I don't doubt it." Kirito muttered, opening his eyes. He sighed as he sat up. "I really want to avoid meeting this Heathcliff person, but if he really wants to meet me, then I have no choice but to do so..."

"You'll meet him?!" Asuna sputtered as her eyes widened. She sat up with a slightly shocked expression. "I honestly thought you would refuse."

"Woah! Wait a minute! You never give in this fast. Are you sure you're still the Kirito I know? Not anything weird, again?" Klein asked as he looked over the teen. Kirito casually smacked Klein's hand out of the way and got up with his arms stretched over his head. Asuna shook her head in amusement.

"I'm fine." Kirito assured as he dropped his arms by his side with a curious gaze. "So, where are we gonna meet Heathcliff?"

Asuna looked up at him. "He said that he will meet us here in about...less than half an hour?"

Kirito crossed his arms and sat back down with his legs crossed with a look of irritation. "Great. More waiting."

Twenty minutes later (Although Kirito counted nineteen minutes and fifty-nine seconds), the three spotted a muscular man dressed in red armor with a gigantic shield and sword and a white cape flowing behind him. Kirito couldn't help but stare at him with wide eyes.

'This...is sooooo not who I'm looking for...or expecting to be Asuna's leader...' he thought to himself. Klein's eyebrows shot up as he whistled.

"I can see why people listen to him." he assessed. Asuna rolled her eyes with a small shake of her head. She greeted her leader with a small smile.

"Heathcliff, I'm glad you're here." she said.

"Hello, Asuna." Heathcliff greeted with a nod. "I am assuming that the boy dressed in black is the ≪Black Swordsman≫."

Asuna glanced down at Kirito, who frowned at the mention of his 'title'. "Yes, he is." She gestured to Klein, who waved. "And this is Klein. The ≪Fuurinkazan≫ Guild Leader."

Heathcliff nodded to both of them. "It's a pleasure to meet you both. Especially you, Bla-"

"Please. Don't call me that." Kirito interrupted with a raise from his left hand. "Just 'Kirito' is fine."

Surprise was clear on Heathcliff's face as stared at the boy. "Well, seems like you aren't very fond of that name."

Klein scoffed. "Hah! This kid practically loathes it."

Kirito forced a smile. "I don't loath it. I simply dislike it. There's a difference."

Asuna cleared her throat, catching everyone's attention. "Well, was there something you wanted to ask Kirito, Heathcliff?"

Her leader gave her a smile. "Actually, I don't."

The other three gave him blank stares. "Eh?"

"I just used that as an excuse to meet the rumored swordsman." Heathcliff explained. Kirito kept a straight face.

"That is lamest excuse I've ever heard." he said bluntly. "But a good way to get out of something...I guess."

Heathcliff chuckled with a slow shake of his head. "You have no idea how many times I actually used that excuse in real world."

Kirito gave him an odd look. "I think... I do."

"So, anyway..."

In the end, Asuna and Heathcliff ended up talking about some battle stratagies they could use in the near future with Klein and Kirito giving their own two cents. But while they were talking and switching to many topics to kill some time, Kirito couldn't help but feel very uneasy. There was something in Heathcliff that seemed so familiar, yet a stranger.

"-irito!"

He was comfortable, yet really tense.

"-ention? Hey-"

Like he should know him-

"Are you alright?"

Kirito snapped out of his thoughts and nearly yelled when Heathcliff was waving a hand in front of his face. He instinctively grabbed it and held it still with a small glare. "I'm fine. What you even doing?"

Klein frowned. "You spaced out for a of couple minutes."

"I was trying to get your attention." Heathcliff answered. Asuna gave him a concerned look.

"Are you sure you're alright?" she asked. Kirito released Heathcliff's hand with a huff of irritation.

"I'm perfectly fine, Asuna." he replied. Looking for a way to change the subject, he stood up and stretched. "I'm hungry. Are you guys? I haven't eaten since breakfast, which was 19,006 seconds ago."

"19,006 seconds?" Klein repeated. Asuna smiled.

"That would be five hours, sixteen minutes, and forty-six seconds, Klein." she clarified. Heathcliff nodded in approval.

"Well done." he praised. He got up with a smile. "Why don't we all go out to eat? My treat."

Klein immediately shot up. "Great! I-I-I mean, thanks, Heathcliff."

Asuna lightly laughed as she got up. "I wouldn't mind. You up for it, Kirito?"

The said teen shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever you guys want. I don't care, as long as I eat."

Asuna placed her fist into her open palm. "Then it's settled! Lunch all on Heathcliff."

"Yeah! Free food!" Klein cheered.

"Wow, leecher." Kirito said as they all began to head to a town with a good restaurant. He followed close behind. If he really wanted to make sure that Heathcliff wasn't the person he was looking for, then he has to come up with something that would prove his suspicions wrong. Which, sadly, weren't normally wrong.

He unconsciously rubbed the back of his left wrist with a frown. "I guess...a childish game should do it."


	11. Chapter 11: The Game of Oni

Chapter 11: T h e G a m e o f O n i

There was one thing Klein and Asuna noticed with their time with Kirito. He was odd. Kinda dead too.

Kirito was always near, but he was always distant. In front of everyone, he was calm, collected, and mostly gave looks of surprise or disbelief. There was barely a smile. Well, there were forced and half-hearted ones, but no genuine smiles.

Klein and Asuna personally made it their goal to make him smile. Sadly, it was easier said than done. They tried to crack lame jokes (which got raised eyebrows from the guild members and rolled eyes from Kirito), come up with something entertaining to do (Kirito had to walk out of the room before he got the chance to roundhouse kick Klein), even indulge in sweets (much to Asuna's delight since she knew she couldn't gain weight in SAO). Long list short, they tried everything to get Kirito to smile. Well, almost everything.

._._._._._.

"Oni?" Klein asked as he led the way from the restaurant after they finished their lunch to any random place. Asuna and Heathcliff were walking by each other while Kirito was in the distance between Klein and the two.

"Yeah, ever heard of that game?" Kirito asked. Asuna smiled.

"Of course, I've heard of that! I played that game when I was really small." she answered.

"Every child should've played or at least heard that game." Heathcliff added. He gave Kirito a slightly raised eyebrow. "Why the sudden interest?"

The teen frowned and came to a stop. "If I tell you, you guys would think I'm...well, deprived."

"Deprived...?" Asuna echoed as she stopped with a hand resting on her rapier. "Exactly, what do you mean...?"

The grown ups (Heathcliff and Klein), shared a look of slight confusion as Kirito ran a hand through his hair in hesitation.

"This is really stupid. Never mind." he said as he shook his head and resumed walking until Klein stepped in his way. He instantly paled slightly when Klein gave him one of his spit-it-out looks. "Ah."

"Actually, I'm quite interested." Heathcliff admitted. "What were you going to say?"

Kirito looked up at Heathcliff and bit the back of his lip in embarrassment. His cheeks had a tint of red as he spoke. "I...never played that game before..."

A heavy silence fell on them. Kirito shifted his weight a couple of times as they gave him blank, dumbfounded stares. He slowly waved a hand in front of Klein in hope that he would snap out of it, but nothing happened. He sighed as he dropped his hand in defeat.

"See, I kinda knew this was going to happen." he muttered to himself.

"YOU NEVER PLAYED ONI BEFORE?!" Klein suddenly exploded. Shock appeared on Asuna and Heathcliff as Kirito spun on his heel and ran away in fear of Klein's upcoming rant. "HEY! Get back here! I'm just asking a simple question!"

Asuna blinked out of her stupor and tapped Klein on the shoulder.

"What the-" Klein couldn't even finish when he saw Asuna taking off.

"I bet you can't catch me, oni!" she taunted over her shoulder. Klein stared after her speechless. Heathcliff chuckled and shook his head as he patted Klein's shoulder.

"Good luck trying to catch us." he wished. Klein was standing like a mute, gawking duck as he watched Heathcliff run off as well.

It finally registered in his head two seconds later. "Why me?!"

Without a skip of a heartbeat, he took off after them.

._._._._._.

Kirito ran all the way out of town and skidded to a stop. He only had the chance to take a couple of seconds of air before someone suddenly collided into him. He yelped in slight pain as fell to his side and a flush of chestnut hair covered his face.

"Ow..." he hissed. "Asuna, get off me please!"

"Ah! I'm really sorry!" she apologized as she scrambled off of him. Kirito slowly sat up with a hand rubbing his sore side.

"Dang, Asuna. How did you catch up to me?" he asked. Then he shook his head as he thought over his words. "No wait, scratch that. Why are you following me? You're not going to drag me back to Klein, are you? I don't want to be deaf for the next hour."

Before Asuna had the chance to answer, Heathcliff ran past them with a small smirk.

"You better get running!" he called back. "The 'oni' is not too far away!"

Kirito's jaw dropped in shock. "Did he just-?!"

Asuna quickly cut him off by grabbing his hand as she shot up. "There's no time! Klein's right there!" she laughed. Kirito scrambled to his feet and saw a determined Klein rushing out of town.

"What's going on?!" he demanded as he reluctantly followed Asuna, who practically dragged him. She gave a good-natured laugh.

"What does it look like? Klein's the oni! You don't want to be him, now, do you?" she asked in amusement. Without waiting for an answer, she ran ahead.

"Oni? What do you guys mea-" Realization dawned on him. He took one last look at Klein and gave a happy, real, excited smile. "Oni!"

In a split second, Kirito was already two feet behind Asuna. Their little game went on for hours. Asuna nearly backhanded Klein when he tapped her on the shoulder. Heathcliff gave Asuna a small frown as she swung around a tree and used the momentum to literally fly into him (Kirito saw the whole thing and quickly decided that Asuna is scary in and out of battle). Kirito stumbled over his feet and fell face first when Heathcliff "accidentally" tripped him, making him the 'oni'.

"You'll pay for that Heathcliff! I don't care if you're a leader or not, I'm going to make you fall and make you feel my wrath!" the happy teen declared with amusement in his voice as he chased after Heathcliff (who shot a teasing smirk). Asuna and Klein couldn't help but laugh as they watched Heathcliff run away from an excited Kirito.

"Haha! Go get him, Kirito!" Klein cheered. Asuna stood next to him and waved.

"Don't be so vengeful on Heathcliff! He is my leader after all!" Asuna called. She gave a small laugh as the two disappeared into a forest near the town. "Wow, I've never seen Kirito this carefree before."

Klein nodded in agreement. "In the long months he's been with me, he never complained. It's good to see him laughing and smiling instead of frowning."

Asuna rolled her eyes. "It was more on worry and uneasiness. But, what can I say? I don't really know him. You know, I think made our first goal."

The guild leader grinned as he fist-pumped the air. "Getting the Black Swordsman to smile, accomplished! Figuring out what's wrong with him and beat the game..." He faltered. "Kinda getting there..."

The Sub Leader placed a hand at her hip with a small smile. "Yeah, getting there..."

They waited patiently for the two to pop back out of the forest, hoping that it would just be five minutes or so. But soon, those simple five minutes slowly became six, then seven, then eight, then ten, then fourteen. Before they knew it, they were gone for over thirty minutes.

Klein furrowed his eyebrows. "What's taking them so long?"

"Something's wrong." Asuna said in a small voice. She looked worriedly at the forest as she curled her hair around her fingers. "Klein, I'm getting a bad feeling about this..."

Without another word, the two dashed into the forest, silently agreeing to find Kirito once more (and hopefully for the last time).

._._._._._.

~Thirty Minutes Earlier~

Kirito laughed as he followed Heathcliff through the twists and turns of the forest. For the first time in a while, he was having fun. Sure, his left leg burned with needles stabbing him, but he ignored it. He was having way too much fun to even stop and remember why he was doing this in the first place. He was constantly running to avoid his friends. Who didn't want to be the oni?

He never knew the feeling of freedom of running (or rather, he couldn't remember) until now. The joy of going all out just to catch each other. The excitement of running away and pretty much trying to outsmart each other.

In the past eleven years, he never had the chance to play oni. He could only remember sitting at the sidelines and watching other kids run around the small park in the hospital grounds. Well, he tried to play but was scolded by Rinko-nee-chan before he actually got up.

But this? This was amazing. He never thought that people he even didn't know would actually play such a childish game with him. Asuna and Klein didn't know him in real life and yet they want to keep an eye on him. He tried pushing them away, but they keep coming back. It made him wonder. Were there really people out in reality that actually cares about strangers?

The more he thought about it, the more confusing things got for him. Before SAO, he only knew a handful of people. A very small handful of people.

Snap!

Kirito stumbled to a stop in the middle of a huge clearing in the forest, finally remembering why he brought up the game 'Oni'. Not too far away, Heathcliff at the other side facing him. The Guild Leader stood tall and stared unblinkingly at Kirito, as if he was trying to search for something. Neither of them spoke for a long while.

Finally, Heathcliff broke the tense silence.

"Are you enjoying this game of 'oni', Kirito?" he asked politely with a smile.

Kirito returned it with a small smile. "Of course, I am. I haven't had this much fun in ages, and with strangers of all things." He paused and dropped his polite act. "Well, except one."

Heathcliff sighed. "I guess my suspicions were right. You are Kazuto-kun." he said with a straight face, "I never expected the Black Swordsman to be you of all the players. Neither did I think that I would meet you prematurely."

Kirito scoffed. "I never thought that you of all people were him." He crossed his arms and gave a small glare. "Why'd you do this, Aki-nii-chan?"

"Still calling me that after all I did?" Heathcliff asked as he equipped his famous sword and trademark shield. "Surely by now, you would stop."

"After knowing how much it annoys you and how much you kept visiting me for ten years straight? Heh, it's a habit I should be trying to break but I can't seem to do so." Kirito answered as he unsheathed his black sword.

The paladin opened his menu and sent a challenge request to him. "I'm sure you'll hate me after this...that is..." if you live. Those words were left unspoken, but the boy was quick to figure it out. There was no way he was going to lose this battle.

Kirito looked over the challenge. First to lose half of their HP loses. Without hesitation, he accepted. A thirty-second counter appeared above them and immediately began its countdown.

30.

"Aki-nii!" Kirito called, "If I win, you will grant me one request, right?"

26.

"Yes." Heathcliff confirmed, "And if I win, you know what happens."

19.

Kirito huffed. "Of course, I do."

15.

Heathcliff narrowed his eyes. "Then I wish you luck, Kazuto-kun."

9.

Kirito readied his stance and held his blade tightly. "Same to you... Akihiko-nii-chan."

5\. 4.

The paladin frowned and muttered something to himself. "I am really sorry."

1.

Kirito took one step and-

Black.

._._._._._.

SYSTEM COLLABORATION AT FORTY-TWO PERCENT.

._._._._._.


	12. Chapter 12: The Glimpse of Two Realities

Chapter 12: T h e G l i m p s e o f R e a l a n d F a k e R e a l i t y

Kirito flinched at the sudden flash of pain in his head and nearly stumbled to a stop when his vision became black.

"No! Please don't let this happen now!"

As if on cue, his vision was somewhat restored. Thousands of yellow numbers and letters zipped across and quickly faded into a scene. The forest around him was no longer a lively green color, but a gray toned world. Everything that once had color had turned into a huge black and white picture. Even his game screen was inverted black.

Kirito bit the back of his lip as he felt a bit of fear crawl into him.

"This can't be happening!"

Suddenly remembering what he was doing, he quickly caught himself and pushed forward as he shot at Heathcliff with amazing speed. He pulled his sword back and slashed at him, but was blocked by the huge shield. Heathcliff took a swing at Kirito with his own blade only to slice air as the teen jumped back. Heathcliff wasn't given a second to recover as Kirito rushed in again for another attack.

Smack!

Kirito's attack was blocked again by the big shield. Instead of jumping back, he pushed himself forward in attempt to get Heathcliff off-balance. But Heathcliff stood firm and efficiently shoved Kirito back, making him fly a couple of feet. Kirito quickly twisted his body upside down and pushed off the grass with his free hand.

He bit back a curse as he felt like a million knives stabbed his left leg when he landed on it. His vision fizzed to the original color, but was quickly replaced with black and white. Kirito's eyes widened slightly as he tried to focus on his duel, but realized that something is really wrong. He barely had the chance to cry out when a black and white Heathcliff was suddenly in front of him, ready to gut him. Without thinking, he brought his sword down on the blade and sidestepped, only to run into Heathcliff's shield.

The paladin made no expression as he swiped his shield to the left. Kirito sailed through the air and stabbed his sword deep into the grayish grass to stop his momentum. Both of his hands wrapped around the handle to stay rooted.

"Oh crap!" he partially yelled as the same stabbing feeling rushed through his leg as he landed on it again. The flash of pain in his head quickly became overbearing. He swallowed and gave Heathcliff a wary look.

"I can see why they call you the Paladin. Your stupid shield is always in the way." Kirito assessed as his grip on his sword tightened. Heathcliff smirked.

"And you're just like the rumors," he said as he raised his sword. "Dressed in black, fast, angular, quick to think...when you're flying."

Kirito huffed as he forced himself to get up and pull his sword out of the ground with a bit of difficulty. "I'm guessing that's a compliment."

"It was." Heathcliff said as Kirito got into a fighting stance once more. Without another word, Kirito charged in again, ignoring all the pain dulling his senses and knowing that he shouldn't use any sword skills. Well, Heathcliff is the creator of SAO. Heathcliff swung his sword at his chest, but Kirito was swift to duck and take a swipe at Heathcliff's legs.

But Heathcliff jumped back and avoided it with ease. "You seem to be a little slow there, Kazuto-kun."

Kirito stood up and struggled not to show his pain in front of him. "Why did you think I said not to call me the Black Swordsman, Aki-nii-chan?"

He didn't wait for an answer and brandished his sword. Kirito dashed forward. He knew he probably didn't have enough strength to do this little plan that formed in his head, but he had to try. He could already feel himself slipping away as his vision fuzzed again. Vaguely, he felt his sword hit Heathcliff's shield for the third time and fly out of his weak hands. His vision finally gave out into darkness as Kirito fell to the ground, unmoving.

._._._._._.

Heathcliff cursed in shock. He couldn't believe this was happening! He meant to fight Kazuto and nothing more, but not this. Something was seriously interfering with Kazuto's avatar. But what? What was it? What went wrong? He calculated everything before he started SAO and made sure nothing would affect him!

He was completely ready to brace himself for Kirito's attack, but he never expected the teen to only tap his shield, slip to the ground, and not get up! Heathcliff quickly cancelled the challenge and knelt at the teen's side.

"Oi! Ka-I mean-Kirito!" Heathcliff called as he shook the teen's shoulder. "Kirito! Wake up!"

He turned Kirito over and lightly slapped his face. "Come on, Kirito, wake up!"

Kirito didn't budge and had a look of stress as he 'slept'. Heathcliff cursed again and opened his admin screen. "What did I do wrong?"

He quickly picked out Kirito's avatar and scanned it to see if there were any bugs or glitches, but came up empty-handed. Heathcliff's face darkened when he saw a long red box underneath Kirito's picture on his menu.

"SYSTEM COLLABORATION AT FORTY-TWO POINT THIRTY-SIX PERCENT AND COUNTING."

"...I could've sworn I disabled and uninstalled that from Kazuto-kun's NerveGear after the 15th Floor...so, who reinstalled that software?" Heathcliff growled. His eyes narrowed as he tried to find out who did it.

Suddenly, Asuna and Klein stumbled into the clearing in front of him. He quickly dismissed his menu.

"Kirito?!" Asuna cried when her eyes landed on Kirito. She quickly rushed to his side and shook his shoulder. She looked up at Heathcliff. "What happened to him?! What did you do?!"

Klein didn't miss the flash of guilt on Heathcliff before it was replaced by confusion.

"I don't know, Asuna. I just challenged him in a quick battle, but right in the middle of it all, he just suddenly collapsed." Heathcliff admitted. Asuna lightly shook Kirito in attempt to get him up. He paused for a second and looked at Klein. The guild leader was frowning.

"Is it just me or is he fading slightly...?" he asked reluctantly. Heathcliff looked down and felt his eyes widen in fear. He could barely see the thin blades of grass through Kirito's pale hands.

Klein, unfortunately, was right. Kirito was slowly fading.

._._._._._.

The only thing that actually registered in Kazuto's head was the pain he felt. It was so hard to breath, like the air was so dry. His chest was sore and his head was pounding as if it was running a marathon. His hip-joint to his left leg was burning uncontrollably.

He knew he was laying down on his back, but where? He faintly heard voices but couldn't make them out. They were merged together with all these annoying beeping sounds. Kazuto tried to lift a hand, but he couldn't feel it move.

"What in the world is going on?!" he thought to himself. He focused on the voices to distract himself from the pain. And he sort of regretted doing so.

"-Dropping! His heart-rate-!"

"-ressure! Quick, call-"

"He's not gonna make it..."

"Shut up! He will! Now just help me!"

Kazuto felt dread and guilt when he recognized the last voice.

"Rinko-nee-chan..."

He struggled to open his eyes and was only able to see through a tiny crack. He could faintly see Rinko's silhouette above him.

"Come on, Kazuto-kun," he heard her say, "Stay with me. You want to see Suguha-chan, right? Just hang on a little longer. I will be here to take care of you. I am not going to let you die here, so you better not die in Kayaba-san's stupid game! Don't you dare give up!"

Kazuto wanted to tell her that it would be okay. That he wouldn't give up. There was no way that he would lose to this game. He has too much to live for. For Suguha-chan, his "mother", Rinko, and even for Asuna and Klein who were complete strangers that actually cared.

His eyes slipped closed and thousands of colors flashed past him. His consciousness was dragged back into the virtual world. Silently, he vowed to himself that he would never give up as his world blacked out again.

._._._._._.

The sunlight streamed from the window and landed gently on the sleeping teen who was curled up into a ball under the white sheets. He rolled over to get away from the sunlight, but couldn't. He stayed there for a couple more seconds before groaning in defeat. The teen threw the blanket off himself and sat up as he glared at the window.

"Can't you let me sleep a little longer?!" he asked the window. Kirito sighed and rubbed his eyes to wake himself up. He stretched and dropped his arms as he took a look around.

A digital clock hung on the opposite side of the wall and read 8:27 am. Next to the clock was a dresser and a mirror that Kirito looked at suspiciously. A desk was placed against a wall with a computer on top.

"What in the world...?" Kirito muttered to himself as he got up from the bed and took a closer look at the computer. "This is the computer I built with the parts Aki-nii gave me..."

His hand suddenly froze over the computer screen. He took another look around the room with wide eyes. Realization dawned on him. "This is my room!"

Without a second thought, he ran out his door and stopped at his sister's door. "If this is my house then this should be-" He opened the door and saw an empty room with a single window. "Sugu's room?"

Kirito walked into the room and looked out the window. Outside was the familiar streets of his hometown. He gasped in disbelief. "What in the world?!"

Scared, Kirito looked over his outfit. He was only wearing a simple white t-shirt, a pair of gray shorts, and was barefooted. He shook his head and slowly backed out of the room.

"This can't be happening!" he cried as he shot down the hall and hurried down the stairs. Kirito stumbled to a stop in the living room.

"Sugu? Okaa-san?" he called out. There was no answer. Almost hysterical, he ran out the front door and stopped in the middle of the empty street. Placing his hands by his mouth, he yelled. "Suguha!? Okaa-san!?"

His voice echoed into the emptiness, escalating his fear. He called out once more.

"IS ANYBODY HERE?!"

No answer.

Kirito dropped his hands in defeat and fell to his knees. He looked up to see the sky, but only saw white.

"Where am I?" he asked with a shaky breath.

"REGISTERED CODE#7356 FOUND."

"W-wha?" Kirito stood up and looked around. The world around him was suddenly bathed in red. His clothes were suddenly changed back into his black attire in Sword Art Online. He looked over himself in shock. "What's going on?!"

The whole area began to fizz and fade away as if it was no longer able to hold itself up.

"INITIATING LOG IN TO SWORD ART ONLINE."

"Log in?!" Kirito exclaimed as his sword materialized on his back.

"USERNAME: KIRITO. PASSWORD: ********."

Kirito felt the ground disappear under him.

"LOG IN COMPLETE."

"Waaaaah!" he cried as he fell into a white pit of colors. He turned around and saw Aincrad from outside yet again. The sky around was bright and blue with several white clouds scattered everywhere. Kirito braced himself as he fazed through the building all over again.

._._._._._.

Kirito snapped open his eyes and shot up to his feet, scaring the living daylights out of the unsuspecting Asuna and Klein. He did a quick 360 degree spin on his heel and recognized the forest around him. How long was he out?

"Whoa! Easy there, Kirito!" Kein exclaimed as Kirito swayed on his feet. Asuna quickly recovered from her shock and held Kirito steady. The teen had his eyes wide and he was shaking uncontrollably.

"Kirito, calm down! What's wrong?" she asked. She slowly lowered Kirito and made him sit back down in the grass. She ran a hand through his hair to calm him down. It helped calm his nerves down a bit.

Clearing his throat, Kirito finally spoke. "W-where's Heathcliff?"

Asuna and Klein shared a look of confusion. Both of them were worried when Heathcliff suddenly ran off saying that there was an emergency back at KoB.

"He went back to his guild because he had to do something. Why?" Asuna asked. Kirito just shook his head as if to clear it. He took one deep breath and let it out slowly. After a couple seconds, he finally calmed down and gave the two a tired look.

"Honestly? I have no idea what in the world just happened." Kirito admitted. He sighed and began his rant. "First, I black out and I end up seeing Rinko-nee-chan trying to keep me alive, then I woke up to find myself in some weird world only to be thrown back into SAO! Is this even possible?"

He looked up and felt his shoulders fall when he saw Asuna and Klein giving him the "Are you crazy?" look.

Kirito sighed. "I have a lot of explaining to do, don't I?"

Klein gave him his best parent-like serious face. "Yup."


	13. Chapter 13: The Forced Truth

Chapter 13: T h e F o r c e d T r u t h

Kirito wished that he could turn back time and fix all his problems. Like going back to that scary day eleven years ago, or when he accidentally let his actual situation slip. But of course, it was impossible. He was able to come up with a lame excuse saying that he was tired (he really was though) and got away from explaining what he meant to Asuna and Klein. If anything, he only delayed the inevitable. After all, who wants to tell their friends that they're dying?

Yeah, that's why he would rather shut up than tell them.

It had been a couple hours ago since they left the forest, and Kirito was randomly scolding himself since he had the urge to do so.

"Nice job, Kirito," said the Black Swordsman to himself. "Now you've got to explain what in the world is going on!"

He threw his hands up in the air and sighed in frustration as he began pacing back and forth in his room. No, not his IRL room, but a room given to him in the house of the ≪Fuurinkazen≫ Guild.

"As if I even know what's going on... What are you going to do now, you idiot!" he asked himself. He dropped his hands and crossed his arms. "I can't tell them who Heathcliff is. I can't even bring myself to even say that I'm--"

He cut himself off as he felt a cold feeling nab him. Kirito rubbed his upper arms and shook his head.

"No, I shouldn't be thinking like that. Rinko-nee-chan would slap me pretty hard like she did when Aki-nii-chan missed their date..." He shivered at the thought. Kirito clearly remembered the day Akihiko came into his hospital room with a bright red hand mark across his face...

He sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly as he sat on him bed. Outside, it began to rain. He listened to the raindrops as a memory replayed in his head. A memory he couldn't believe he actually remembered.

._._._._._.

"Oh, it's raining."

The little five-year-old Kazuto clung to the seventeen-year-old Kayaba's brown sweater as he was lifted into the teen's waist. The clingy child wrapped his arms around Kayaba's shoulders to stay balanced.

"Looks like you can't go outside today, Kazuto-kun." Kayaba stated. Kazuto shook his head and pointed outside with his tiny, frail hands.

"No, I wanna go outside." he said. Kayaba gave him a small frown.

"I don't know... I don't think your mom would like that..." he said hesitantly. Kazuto pouted and gave him his special puppy dog eyes.

"Pweeeeeaaase, Aki-nii-chan? Pwetty pwease?" The adorable child asked (well, you know kids, they beg). Kayaba attempted to give him his best stern looked. Sadly, it failed miserably as he gave in to Kazuto's puppy eyes. He sighed.

"Fine. Just let me get your coat." he said as he placed Kazuto back on the hospital bed and walked over to the other side of the room. Kazuto giggled happily as his right leg swung back and forth, hitting the side of the bed, but his other stayed limp and still. If one looked close enough, they could see the faint stark white scar that ran jaggedly from his knee and mostly likely his hip. He was excited that he was finally going outside for the first time in a year. From what he remembered, he heard that he was going home today. It had sadden him that he couldn't walk anymore (which confused him since he could move one leg and not the other), but it never dampened his childish impulses to have fun.

Kayaba came back with Kazuto's light blue rain coat and his own dark blue. The little boy eagerly slipped it on and reached his arms to Kayaba. The teen hefted Kazuto onto his waist once more, took him downstairs, and out into the pouring rain. He stopped under the overhang in front of the entrance and stood right next to the rain. Kazuto slowly reached his pale hand out and yelped in shock at the coldness.

He stared at his hand for a moment before sticking it back out in the rain. He waited until his sleeve was soaked and enjoyed the coldness seeping in. Giving the rain a smile, he pulled his arm back in and pulled himself closer to Kayaba.

A smile crossed over Kayaba's face as Kazuto watched the rain in fascination. "Missed the rain, Kazuto-kun?"

The small boy nodded happily as he continued to watch, "Yeah! This is the best day ever, Aki-nii-chan!"

Kayaba huffed in amusement. "I wouldn't consider a rainy day the best day."

Kazuto turned away from the rain and gave a bright smile. "It's only the best day because you're here, Aki-nii!"

._._._._._.

Kirito smiled sadly at the memory. He really wished that he could go back into time now and relive the happy days. Sighing, he placed his elbows on his knees and buried his face in his hands as the rain grew heavier.

"Great. I'm screwed. Completely screwed." he muttered to himself.

._._._._._.

Asuna leaned against the windowsill of the ≪Fuurikazen≫ Guild house as she watched the sky become dark with heavy rain clouds. She sighed. "Well, there goes our 'fun-filled' day."

Klein hummed in agreement. The two just silently watched the rain slowly fall and become a sudden downpour. Asuna couldn't help but run the words Kirito accidentally slipped over and over in her head.

("First, I black out and I end up seeing Rinko-nee-chan trying to keep me alive, then I woke up to find myself in some weird world only to be thrown back into SAO! Is this even possible?")

Just what did he mean? Did he see the real world? Or was his mind playing tricks on him? And what did he mean by 'only to be thrown back into SAO'?

Several questions appeared on after another in Asuna's head. She was getting confused more and more by the second. Her thoughts quickly traced back to the day when Kirito admitted that something was wrong.

("Wait a minute. Let's just assume that Kirito can feel pain. If this game doesn't allow pain, then why can Kirito? Did something happen in the time he disappeared after the first floor boss was defeated?")

("--his avatar just completely shut down.")

Asuna frowned. Kirito really didn't want help but she just had too. She couldn't stand by and let him slip away from everyone. She--

("Guys, can I trust you to keep this to yourself?")

\--rolled her eyes in frustration. She kept his secret for three long months and it was really starting to bother her! She couldn't keep this up for much longer!

("--I end up seeing Rinko-nee-chan trying to keep me alive--")

Her eyes suddenly widened as everything seemed to have clicked into place. Without another word, she ran out of the room and shot up the stairs.

"Oi! Asuna!" Klein called as he followed her. The two stopped in front of Kirito's room and Asuna didn't pause to knock as she allowed herself in, startling Kirito from his brooding.

"Ah! Uhh-A-A-Asuna! D-did you ever heard of knocking?!" Kirito exclaimed as he jumped up from his place, completely surprised. Asuna waited for Klein to get in and slammed the door shut.

"Kirito, we need to talk." she said with all seriousness. Klein looked at her incredulously.

"We do?" he asked dumbly. Asuna shot him a glare and he quickly corrected himself. "I-I mean, we do!"

Kirito stared at them in confusion. "Can't this wait...?" He took a couple steps back to sit back down on his bed. He raised his hands in defense with a look of unease (mostly because Asuna looked pretty upset at the current moment...).

"No. It can't wait! I don't even think we can wait! Kirito, you do realize you're being really stupid right now, right?" Asuna demanded. The teen stared at her with his eyebrows furrowed.

"Hah? About what?" he asked. Asuna stomped her foot harshly. She gave Kirito a sympathetic look before looking away. She didn't answer. All the frustration that built up was suddenly gone. She could only feel sorrow and...regret? Yeah, she regretted confronting Kirito without a better approach, but what was done was done.

Kirito sighed. He slowly stood and grabbed his left arm out of habit. There was a long silence before he spoke again with a soft, tired voice.

"About what, Asuna?" he asked gently. Even when Kirito asked again, he already knew the answer. After all, he knew Asuna would piece things together before Klein. She stood up straight and loosely crossed her arms.

"You're..." She trailed off, unsure how to word her answer better. Several emotions stopped her for a moment. What if Kirito runs away again? What if Kirito doesn't want to talk to them anymore? What if he pushes everyone away again? Klein only stood by and watched since he felt that he shouldn't interrupt.

She steeled herself and took a deep breath. Whatever happens after, she didn't care. She cared about now. "There's something wrong with you, isn't there?"

Kirito only looked away, but Asuna caught a glimpse of hurt in his eye. They took his silence as a yes. But Asuna wasn't finished yet.

"I mean, it's not hard to not notice, Kirito! The pain you feel, the sudden collapses, and what you said earlier... Why didn't you just tell us?" Asuna asked. Kirito gave a small, sad smile.

"Then what if I ask you guys this?" he began as he turned around to look out the window. "Would you tell anyone your darkest secret?"

"Our darkest secret?" Klein echoed. He crossed his arms and shook his head. "If I wanted to keep it a secret then, of course I wouldn't tell anybody. What does that have to do our topic?"

Exactly everything." Kirito rested his forehead on the window with a sigh. He tried so hard to distance himself from everyone he ran into. But these two were persistent. They wouldn't let him go. Asuna and Klein had a firm grip on him. Even if he tried to leave, he was sure he couldn't go. He did one thing he tried so hard not to do.

"Kirito, please." Asuna whispered. Kirito mentally cursed as he turned to her in hesitation.

"Fine. I'll admit it." He gave in. He knew he failed. Now, he had to tell them. "There is something wrong with me."

Asuna's eyes widened in surprise. She hadn't expected him to give in so quickly. But she kept silent as Klein stood next to her.

Kirito looked down and avoided their eye contact as he spoke. "In reality, I can barely walk with the help of crutches. I can't even make a full sentence without stammering every word. I can't go to school like any normal teenager. In fact, I haven't finished primary school, and yet I can build a computer from scratch without much assistance."

Asuna's hand found itself covering her mouth in surprise. He really did it. He actually gave up and told them. Klein frowned.

"You mean you can't walk...?" he asked. Kirito nodded and continued with a grim smile.

"That's not all, Klein." his voice shook but his grim smile never left. "I won't last very long. I mean, I am dying."

Dead silence.

"Oh, crap. I was right..." were the only words that left Asuna's lips while Klein's jaw smacked the floor (metaphorically, of course) a couple minutes later.

"How can you be so calm about this?!" Klein practically yelled. Kirito flinched at the harsh tone and stumbled back as Klein marched up to him. "You're dying and all you could say is, 'I mean, I am dying.'?! You talk about that as if it's no big deal! Well, heads up, Kirito! It is a big deal!"

"Klein..." Asuna began, but Klein ignored her as he continued scolding Kirito, who plastered a fake smile on his face.

"You can't just throw away your life like its nothing!" Klein yelled. Asuna took a step toward him.

"Klein." she called more forcefully, but failed yet again as Klein kept going.

"Just playing as a solo is proof you don't care even about it! You're just willing to die, aren't you?!" he continued. Kirito's smile suddenly disappeared in a flash as he stomped his foot down into the floor so hard that the ≪Immortal Object≫ label popped out. Shock crossed Klein's face as he stopped his sudden rant.

Irritation and frustration was clear on Kirito's face. The ≪Black Swordsman≫ was obviously feed up. "You think I don't care?! You think I'm just throwing away my life because I'm dying?! You think I'm willing to die?!"

He glared into Klein's flabbergasted eyes. "I do care! I don't want to die! There's tons of stuff I still want to do! I wanna see my sister and watch her grow up to be the best in Kendo in all of Japan, like she always promised to me, even though she's not really my sister! I wanna see and actually talk to my 'father' for a whole hour before he goes off on another business trip! I wanna see my 'mother' and tell her that she's the best mom a person like me could ever have! I wanna beat the crap out of Aki-nii-chan for being such a jerk! I wanna tell Rinko-nee-chan that I won't give up and surprise her with being alive!"

Asuna stood by and listened to Kirito rant off, finally releasing all the pent up stress and frustration he had since she first met him. Klein couldn't help but feel guilty. He acted before thinking about how Kirito really felt about this.

Kirito huffed and crossed his arms. "I do have reasons for living. My body may be ridiculously weak, but there is no way am I going to freaking give up everything I've been working so hard for... Are we done? 'Cause I could really use some peace and quiet."

The question seemed to have snapped Asuna and Klein attention as they both hesitantly nodded.

"I'm sorry, Kirito." Asuna apologized. "I'm really sorry."

"About what?" Kirito snapped.

"Everything. Well, confronting you like this." Asuna clarified.

Kirito sighed and ran a tired hand through his black hair. "Yeah. Sure. Just...just get out."

Klein walked over to the closed door and stopped for a moment. He turned to see Kirito sitting down on the bed with his face in his hands.

"Kirito, I'm sorry too. I didn't know." he confessed, but the teen made no acknowledgement. He sighed. "If there's anything, we'll be downstairs."

They two left without another word. Kirito pulled his feet to the edge of the bed and hugged his knees. And, for the first time in a long time, he finally allowed himself to cry. Once the first drop fell, it couldn't stop. The rain continued to pour harder and Kirito's shoulders shook with fear when the weight of his own words came to him.

("I mean, I am dying.")

"Damn it, Aki-nii." he strained as he buried his face in his knees. "This makes no sense anymore. Why? Why did you do this?"


	14. Chapter 14: The Wills and Bonds of Close Friends

Chapter 14: T h e W i l l a n d B o n d s o f C l o s e F r i e n d s

Honestly, Kirito felt really guilty about kicking Klein and Asuna out of his room, but he couldn't let them see him cry. He needed to be strong if he wanted to make it out alive and he couldn't break now. That is, if he hadn't already.

Kirito groaned as he ran a hand through his black hair. The rain outside had finally stopped and he practically cried himself dry. He didn't mean to, but he couldn't stop. All his frustration and fear just surfaced and there was nothing he could do.

Well, there was one thing he could do.

"There's always hope...right?" Kirito muttered to himself. Sighing, he stood up from his bed and walked to his door. His hand hovered over the door knob with uncertainty. Now that he told Asuna and Klein, how the heck was he supposed to face them?

He stood there for another minute before giving up with a heavy sigh.

"Standing here isn't going to help." he told himself as he dropped his hand heavily on the door knob. He opened to door only to stare directly at a fist. "Ah..."

He blinked and gave the fist's owner a grimace. "I was hoping to stop at the stairs to give myself a moment, but I can throw that out of my window, now."

Although he was calm outside, he was panicking more than he ever did in his life. Ohcrapohcrapohcrap! That came out wrong! I meant to say 'hi'! Not sound like a complete jerk! This is waaaay to early for me! What do I do? What the-How do normal people deal with this?! He thought frantically.

Asuna lowered her fist with a look of confusion. "I'm sorry? I wasn't gonna let you become a hermit and lock us out. By the way, Klein was to one who sent me to get you."

Kirito blinked. "Eh?"

Asuna smiled. "Just come with me."

She held out a hand. Kirito glanced back and forth between her and her hand in wariness.

"Why do I get the feeling that something is gonna happen...?" he asked with a small smile forming at his lips. Asuna rolled her eyes with a cheery smile.

"Just take it." she said. The moment Kirito touched her hand, she snapped her fingers tightly around his hand and shot down the stairs, partially dragging a stumbling Kirito.

"WHA! A-Asuna!? What's going on?!" he cried as she dragged him outside. She didn't answer as they ran all the way out of town and didn't stop until they arrived at an open field. Asuna finally released his hand and took a couple steps back.

"Asuna, what is up with-" Kirito was cut off by a familiar voice.

"About time you got him out here." Klein said as Kirito spun around to face him.

"Klein-" he began again, but Asuna cut him off.

"Well, can't blame a girl for taking her time." she answered with a smile and a small shrug. Kirito shook his head, confused with everything happening.

"What in the world are you guys planning?" he demanded. Klein placed his left hand on his waist.

"Kirito, take a look around you." He said as he swept around his right arm. Kirito raised an eyebrow as he silently questioned Klein's intention, but did what he was told. He let his eyes take a good look around him.

A small, easy breeze swept through the open field and the strands of grass and blotches of flowers swayed gently. The sky outside the floor was bright orange from the setting sun. Suddenly, to Kirito, the world seemed real, like he was actually living and not trying to fight for his dwindling life. Everything seemed serene.

He could see other players crossing the field, but they weren't frowning. In fact, they seemed to be enjoying each other's company. They acted as if they born into this world and grew up together. For a moment, Kirito forgot he was trapped in a horrifying death game. He closed his eyes and took in the calmness around him.

"Peaceful, isn't it?" came Asuna's voice. Kirito only nodded since he couldn't come up with anything to say.

"You know, I think this was what you needed, huh?" said Klein. "You don't always have to constantly fight. Especially by yourself. I'm sure it's not fun being all alone. Well, I know from experience. I don't have a girlfriend and it's hard to catch a lady's attention. I would mind having a hot lady-GWUAGH!"

Kirito's eyes snapped open when he heard a loud smack. He choked down a laugh at the scene before him. Asuna's hand was high above her head and Klein was squatting down, nursing his viciously red cheek with a scowl plastered on his face.

"One more word about wanting to have a girlfriend, Klein, I will give you another good slap on your other cheek." Asuna threatened dangerously. She shook her head as she crossed her arms. "I can't believe you would go on about something totally pointless."

Klein shot up and curled his hand into a fist. "Talking about having a girlfriend in not pointless! Every single guy does that!"

Asuna placed a hand on her rapier with a forced smile and her eyebrow twitching. "I wouldn't mind being an orange player for a little while..."

Kirito shook his head with a small laugh. "Klein, I think now is a good time to drop the subject."

Klein pointed at him with such vigor. Kirito could've sworn that in real life, Klein would've dislocated his shoulder by now.

"I will not back down! I'm single and I'm desperate here! Desperate!" he exclaimed. Klein gestured at Asuna. "Kirito, Asuna is the perfect example of being the perfect girlfriend! And you're telling me to back down?! Never!"

Asuna's face flushed red as she promptly did a round house kick aimed at Klein's head. Kirito watched with horrified amazement as Klein sailed through the air for a couple of seconds.

"I didn't say 'back down'... I said 'drop the subject'..." he corrected subconsciously. He winced as Klein landed harshly on the ground a few feet away. There was a heavy silence as Asuna brushed the front of her skirt impassively. She gave Kirito a side glance.

"What? He deserved it." Asuna deadpanned. He couldn't take it anymore. Kirito tried to stop the laughter that threatened to come out. But he knew, he was fighting a losing battle, and soon, he was laughing.

Asuna's eyes widened when Kirito suddenly burst into laughter. She didn't mean to do it, but Klein was really pushing her buttons. But her surprise didn't stay long as Kirito's laugh became contagious. She started with a giggle and quickly escalated to a full-blown laugh. At that moment, she, too, forgot that she was in a death game.

Klein rubbed his head as he sat up, lightly glaring at the two kids. "Alright, alright, laugh it up you two. Soon, I will have my revenge!"

He suddenly joined them with his own barking laughter. He completely forgot about his worries and laughed them away. Other players passing by gave them odd looks before shaking their heads and walking away.

The three laughed for what they thought to be hours, but was only a few minutes in reality. They were all laying on their backs and gasping for breath as the sun was almost set.

"Haha, we really need to-haha-do this more often." Klein said between laughs. Kirito chuckled as he closed his eyes to relish the moment.

"You mean talk about girls? Nah, I'll pass." Kirito said lazily. Asuna groaned as she rolled her eyes.

"Boys." she grumbled under her breath as she rolled to her side and half-heartedly glared at Klein. "By the way, are all older men perverted? Because as far as I'm concerned, Kirito's the only one who isn't interested in girls at the current moment."

Kirito huffed in amusement. "Well, I don't go out much. So, yeah..."

"What? No, not about girls!" Klein said. He sat up and looked that the two teens. "I mean, have a bit of fun."

Kirito blinked at Klein before sitting up with interest. Asuna did the same as Klein continued.

"I know we're in a pretty bad situation here, but it's always good to do something to unwind and remind ourselves that we're alive. You get what I mean?" Klein asked. The other two shared a look of surprise.

"That..." Asuna began, "is the most wisest thing I've ever heard from you today."

Klein's jaw dropped. "Oi!"

Kirito smiled lightly. "Well, you're right. I think we should."

"Especially you, Kirito." Asuna said seriously as she stared at him. "What we wanted to actually do out here was to remind you that you're not alone. I'm here, Klein's here-"

"The whole ≪Fuurinkazen≫ Guild is living under the same roof." Klein added helpfully. Asuna nodded.

"Even Heathcliff." she said. Kirito looked away at the mention of Aki-nii-chan.

"Heathcliff?" he asked a little harshly. He didn't intend to, but it slipped out of his control for that moment. Asuna furrowed her eyebrow in confusion.

"Something wrong?" she asked. Kirito shook his head.

"No, nothing." he assured. Kirito quickly changed the subject with a question he had been meaning to ask. "Why do you guys even care, anyway? I'm a complete stranger playing this game, and yet, you two won't let me go."

"Who cares?" Klein asked, surprising Kirito. "I may not know you in the real world, but hey! You needed a hand so I just had to help."

"So, what? I'm a charity case now?" Kirito sighed. Asuna shook her head.

"What? No! You're more of an interesting person who was just, really cool!" she blurted. He looked at her unconvinced.

"Riiiiiiight." he drawled as he crossed his arms. Asuna sighed.

"Look, I know there is more to you than your whole 'Black Swordsman' thing. I know you're kind, and I know you can laugh like any other person." she said. Kirito gave her a look.

"You know, I'll be blunt and honest. I knew you two were trying to get me to smile the whole three months I've been stuck with Klein. You guys sucked at jokes, not saying that I can do better, which I can't." he quickly added as he saw Klein's challenging look. "But, why?"

"It's better when people smile." Klein answered with a satisfied nod. "But, Kirito, what we're trying to say here is that...you should be yourself. Or live however you wanted to actually live."

"Even for just a short moment." Asuna added. Kirito brought his knees to his chest and stayed silent for a minute before answering them.

"Well, if you two are telling me to live like I wanted to, then Klein, you might have a hard time..." Kirito warned as he felt a huge burden lift from his shoulders. He felt so much lighter and happier now, that he was ready to actually live for the first time in a long time.

"Hard time? Heh, I can deal with anything!" Klein said confidently. Asuna pressed her lips together when she saw Kirito's smile. It wasn't an "I'm happy!" smile. It was more along the lines of "You're gonna regret this..." smile.

She shook her head. At least she was not the one living with Kirito.


	15. Chapter 15: The Little Beast Tamer

Chapter 15: T h e L i t t l e B e a s t T a m e r

February 23, 2024

Klein rummaged through the bushes as he searched for a thin needle. He paused and looked up with a sigh.

"Are you sure you threw it here?" Klein asked as he scratched the back of his head. Kirito, who was sitting on a tree branch right above Klein, swung upside down with his legs keeping him in place. His hair fell away from his face and made him look a bit funny as he crossed his arms with a frown (well, smiled in Klein's view).

"I was sure I did." he replied. Kirito hung his arms over head and sighed. "Darn, that was my last one too..."

Klein made a straight face. "Kirito, your sword will slip out. Besides, we could always buy more throwing needles, Kirito."

"But, Klein! It's durability is really high and it doesn't wear out after a single use. It's a rare drop, too!" Kirito whined and ignored his warning. Klein scowled.

"Okay, I get it!" he grumbled as he gave in. "Geez, what are you? A kid?"

Kirito held his pointer finger next to his face and had a matter-of-fact tone as he spoke. "Well, technically, I'm an adolescent since I'm fifteen, but yeah, I'm still a kid...ish."

Klein stared at him. "That was a rhetorical question."

Kirito smiled. "I know. You're just as bad as Rinko-nee-chan when she pulls an all-nighter."

The older man furrowed his brows in confusion. "Rinko? Now where have I heard that name before...?"

The upside down teen raised an eyebrow. "Ah, two months ago?" His eyes suddenly widened when he saw a flash of silver below him. The thin needle was attached to a thick branch in the bush Klein searched. He reached down and pulled it out. "Found ya!"

Kirito quickly pocketed the small needle. Klein was about to say something but a high-pitched scream of anguish stopped him. Kirito's balance on the tree branch loosened and he only had a moment to realize what's going on.

"Klein! We should help that play-YAH!?" Kirito fell off the tree and crashed into Klein. Klein huffed in surprise when his back became a cushion for Kirito, who was sitting upright and a bit dazed.

"Oi! Kirito! Get off me!" he demanded. Kirito shook his head to clear his jumbled thoughts and looked in the direction of the scream.

"I've got to help her!" Kirito declared as he suddenly dashed off.

"Kirito!" Klein yelled as he scrambled to get up and chase after him. "Damn it! How many times have I told you?! Don't go running off on your own!"

Kirito looked over his shoulder with a wide grin, "About seventy-two times since January first!"

._._._._._.

Kirito didn't dare to slow down as he spotted a group of ≪Drunken Apes≫ surround something. He quickly unsheathed his sword and slashed the closest one. The ape shattered as he moved on to the next one. A small girl with brown hair tied in two watched with wide reddish-brown eyes as Kirito easily dispatched the crazy apes. She was amazed yet terrified of how his blade glinted in the sunlight as he smoothly ran another through.

Klein caught up just in time to see Kirito slash the back of the last remaining ≪Drunken Ape≫. He watched in dismay.

"You didn't leave any for me?" he sullenly asked. Kirito twirled his blade before sheathing it with ease as he shrugged.

"You were too slow." he replied. He looked at the girl staring up at him with wide teary eyes. He was surprised how young she looked. Kirito held out a hand to her. "Hey, it's okay. Everything's going to be fine."

Instead of taking his hand, the girl sprang up and wrapped her small arms around his thin waist. Kirito stumbled in surprise.

"O-Oi!" he stammered as the girl began to cry.

"P-pina! Pina is gone!" she cried. Kirito got over his shock and gently patted the girl's brown hair. Vaguely, he remembered doing the same thing to another person, and couldn't stop himself from her name slipping out.

"Sugu...?" he muttered in surprise. The girl took no notice of his slip up and buried her face into his chest. He looked over to Klein who picked up a bluish white feather. Kirito quickly pieced everything together in his head. He gestured Klein to give him the feather. The guild leader gave it to him with a questioning look, but Kirito smiled.

He placed a hand on the girl's shoulder and pushed her back a little. She stepped back as Kirito knelt down to her height with a small sad frown. The girl gasped at the sight of the feather in his pale hands.

"Is this Pina?" he asked gently. The girl nodded slowly and began to tear up again. Klein's jaw dropped as he watched Kirito handle the situation. He never actually seen him this mellow since...when again...?

"Yes, she was a Feathery Dragon, and I lost her." the girl replied in a restrained sob.

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to make it on time." Kirito apologized to the girl as he handed it to her. She took the feather back and held it close to her heart. He placed his left hand on the top of her head and patted her. "But there is a way to get Pina back, and it has to be done in three days. Think you can do it?"

The girl looked up at him in surprise. "I can bring Pina back?"

Kirito nodded with a smile. "Yup. It's around the fiftieth floors, though. Are you strong enough?"

The girl's eyes widened in dismay. "The fiftieth floors...? I d-don't think I can make it! I'm not at that level yet."

Klein stepped up, making his presence known. "We could go with you!"

Both Kirito and the girl blinked, but with different reasons. Kirito tilted his head.

"We could? What about your guild?" he asked. Klein shrugged.

"Eh, they can handle themselves without us around." he answered. Kirito gave him a look.

"You mean, you?" he asked. Klein frowned, but held off his reply as the girl jumped to her feet.

"You guys will?! Please, anything to bring Pina back!" she begged. Kirito shrugged at the girl with a smile.

"Well, if Klein said that the guild can handle themselves, then I don't see why not." he said as he got up. Klein grinned and gave the two a thumbs up.

"Now that that's settled! It's time to go and find a way to restore Fina!" he encouraged. The girl's face flushed slightly in annoyance.

"It's Pina!" she corrected. Kirito shook his head in slight worry. He wasn't very sure that Klein coming along with them was a good idea, since Klein probably found the girl too cute to not help. He mentally faced palmed and patted the girl on the head again.

"Since you're going to be with us for a little, I'm Kirito and that old man over there is Klein." Kirito said with a comforting smile. Klein gritted his teeth.

"I am not old! I'm twenty-three! I'm young!" he snapped. Kirito placed his hands at his hip with a smirk.

"You don't act like one." he said, causing Klein to pout and the girl to giggle softly. He turned his attention to the small girl as she shook her head in amusement. She looked up at Kirito and smiled.

"You two are funny." she said, "I'm Silica!"

Klein held out a hand for her to shake. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Sillica! I'll let you know right now, that you're in good hands! After all, you got the one and only Black Swordsman at your side."

Sillica blinked. She stood there for a couple of seconds before turning to Kirito who was already walking away. "You're the Black Swordsman?!"

Kirito turned around and forced a smile. "Are we just gonna stand here all day or are we going to find an inn to stay at for the night...?"

._._._._._.

"I'm really tired." Kirito stated as he sat down on the edge of a bed. Klein smiled in sympathy as he closed the door to their shared room in the inn. Of course, the room had two beds, not one. Kirito never dared to share a bed and he was never gonna start now.

"I don't doubt it." he said. By the time the threesome reached the closest town, they were suddenly bombarded with Silica's old guild she left a couple of hours earlier. Kirito and Klein didn't like that fact that they wanted her back because of her title, "Beast Tamer". Especially the woman called Rosalia. Kirito didn't like her at all. His head was practically screaming at him not to trust her. Nearly everything that left her lips were utter lies.

Kirito had to step in and just shut her up. Klein had to give him a warning look more than once, but Kirito was too irritated to back down. In the end, he ended up herding Silica away into the closest shop.

Klein watched as Kirito un-equipped his boots and curled up on the bed. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "You know what? Just go ahead and get some sleep. I'll go and discuss things with Silica. Sound good?"

The teen gave Klein a half-hearted smile. "Yeah, that sounds good. Sorry, I didn't mean to drag you along. I acted on impulse again."

Klein scoffed and waved a dismissive hand at him. "Why are you even apologizing? Seriously, ever since that day, I don't care. You do what you think is right. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

Kirito smirked. "So, does that mean I don't have to listen to you when you tell me to stay in one place?"

"What?! No! You still have to listen to me! You're too reckless on your own!" Klein scolded as he placed his hands at his hips. Kirito laughed softly and waved a "shooing" hand.

"Didn't you have something to discuss with Silica?" he asked with a mocking smile on his face.

"Didn't you say you were going to sleep?" Klein countered as he turned around to leave. He heard Kirito laugh again.

"No, I didn't. You were the one who told me to." came the teen's tired reply. Klein scowled as he opened the door.

"Good night, Kirito!" he emphasized. He waited for another smart remark from the teen, but when he looked back, Kirito was already out like a light, dreaming of a memory that reminded him of someone. Klein huffed a small smile, before closing the door softly behind him. As he walked to Silica's room he realized something.

"Is it just me or did I actually sound smart earlier...?"

._._.~Several Years Ago~._._.

Kazuto leaned back in his wheelchair as someone pushed him down the hall and looked to his side in a daze. Clutched in his small hands was a little red book. It was a faerie tale about a boy who learned how to fly. He kinda wanted to be like the main character. He wished that he could be brave like him, but he wasn't. He dead scared. Being stuck in a white place with barely any color choked Kazuto. He couldn't stand it. Not anymore.

"Kazuto-kun?" asked a gentle voice above him. He looked up to see a young eighteen-year-old Rinko standing behind his wheelchair. Two years ago, she was here as a volunteer at the hospital. She was there when he first woke up and found ways to give him company during his year in recovery. She had a concerned frown on her face.

"Are you okay?" she asked gently. Kazuto stared at her for a second before silently nodding. He didn't answer verbally. Actually, he couldn't. He tried so hard earlier to talk normally, but all that came out were random stammers of a variety of syllables. He didn't get it. Why? Why couldn't he talk normally? Was there something wrong with him again?

Rinko smiled and patted his shoulder and continued to push him down the hall. When he reached his room, Rinko helped him back up on the plain white bed. She pulled up a chair next to him and placed a comforting hand on Kazuto's shoulder. The small boy didn't look up as placed his hand over hers.

"Kazuto-kun," Rinko began as she looked at his downcast eyes. "I know that things are going to be different, but there's no need to be sad. You still have us. You may not have the words to say anything, but Suguha-chan is still here. Your mother is here, even your father...and me and Kayaba-san are here, too. You're not going to lose us anytime soon."

Kazuto looked up to see Rinko giving him an encouraging smile. Hesitantly, he returned her smile with his own. His door suddenly slide open, slamming into the other side. Rinko was quick to move out of the way as a little girl ran up to the bed. She didn't dare to stop her as the girl crawled up on the bed and hugged the small boy.

"Onii-chan!" cried a little Suguha. Her arms were tightly wrapped around Kazuto's waist as she cried in his arms. "I'm so sorry! If only I had just listened to you, you wouldn't be here! You wouldn't have been hit! Onii-chan, I'm sorry! I'm sorryI'msorryI'msorry..."

Her brother wordlessly ran a hand through her short hair in attempt to comfort her as she continued to apologize over and over and over. He bit the back of his lip to keep himself from crying. He could feel his little sister's shoulders shake and the weight on his shoulders grew heavy. Kazuto wrapped his arms around Suguha and hugged her close.

He suddenly realized the true meaning behind Rinko's words. He may have lost his "voice", he still had his sister. The sister he strove to willingly protect, no matter how much he had to give up. He had to be strong. For her and the rest of his small little circle of people he knew.


	16. Chapter 16: The Golden Stuffed Animal

Chapter 16: T h e G o l d e n S t u f f e d A n i m a l

The house felt empty as Suguha came home. It was a long day at Kendo practice and all she wanted to do was rest... Well, by rest, she meant by taking a break from her stress. Lately, her focus had been slipping, but she couldn't help it.

She sighed softly as she closed the front door and locked it. She reached for the closest switch and turned on the lights. The slightly dark hall lit up, but it didn't help the cold atmosphere. Suguha took a quick look around.

"Tadaima." she gently called out into the empty hall. She stood there in vain hope of hearing a familiar sound of a bell ringing in response.

But it never came.

She sighed and adjusted her shinai on her shoulder as she removed her shoes. Her footsteps were muffled as she walked down the hall and paused at the answering machine. A red light blinked at her, telling her there was a message. Suguha bent her knees to put down her school bag in her other hand, and pressed a button. A monotone voice blared loudly.

/"You have, one, new voice message."/

There was a loud beep before a familiar voice took over.

/"Ah, Suguha-chan, it's me, Okaa-san. Uhm, I know I promised to be home before four, but something came up. *sigh* I'm sorry, Suguha-chan. That's another broken promise. But don't worry! I'll make it up to you. Okay?"/

Suguha silently stood there when her mother paused.

/"Ano...about Kazuto-kun...There's something I have to tell you. Since I know it's not a good thing to tell you in a voice message, I'll tell you when I come home later. Alright? Take care of yourself until I get back, Suguha-chan. And be sure to eat! Don't think I haven't noticed, young lady."/

She flinched. Always trust a mother to know what was wrong with their children. Especially her mom.

/"*Sigh* I'll see you later. And remember, I love you, Suguha-chan."/

The message ended with another loud beep, and the red light stopped flashing. Suguha grimaced and picked up her bag with a tired sigh. She practically dragged herself up the stairs and into her room. She placed her shinai against the wall and dropped her bag at the foot of her bed. Out of habit, she changed out of her school uniform into a normal light blue v-neck t-shirt and a pair of shorts that stopped at her mid-thigh. She paused for a moment as she felt an urge to go somewhere.

Without a word, she walked out of her bedroom and stopped a few feet down the hall in front of a door. Suguha quietly opened the door and went in.

The room wasn't very big, but it wasn't very small either. A digital clock hung on the wall and read 4:02pm. Nearby was a desk with a well-made computer that hadn't been used for alost a year sitting on top. Suguha wordlessly ran her fingers over the keys, gathering small bits of dust. She made a mental note to do a little dusting after her Kendo practice tomorrow.

She took a seat at the edge of the bed and picked up the simple stuffed animal that sat on the pillow. It was a golden lion with a big, round, yellow-orange head and an orange triangular mane. Its beady black eyes glinted in the faint light of the sun light peeking into the room. The body itself was about seven inches tall and five inches wide. The fabric was fuzzy to the touch and had the same color as the head, but was slightly worn with years.

Suguha took a look around the room and shivered at the coldness that settled in not too long ago. This room was once filled with life and this never ending hope. She could remember the days when she would barge into this room without a care and her brother always greeted her with open arms and a warm smile. Even the days she spent sitting next to him and reading out loud to him to practice her own reading comprehension. Especially the days when she could carry him on her back because her was so light, despite the fact the he was a year older than her.

But...

The warmth that danced throughout the room was gone; barely a trace. The peace that constantly calmed her was absent; replaced with dread and fear. A fear that constantly reminded her that she could loose him at any given second. The joy that her brother held faded the moment he left this room. The hope in her heart left a gaping hole that seemed to grow with each passing day, ready to swallow her whole.

"Onii-chan..." she muttered softly to herself as she hugged the golden lion to her chest. The comfort she had been seeking in it wasn't there. It no longer held the love that her brother had for it, as if he never existed. She clutched the lion tighter in attempt to ease her growing pain.

She began to wonder, just how in the world did a disabled teenager like her brother, able to give so much hope and joy into her life? Into her mother's? Even Rinko-nee and that jerk Kayaba? How? How could he smile when he knew he could die right then and there?

Suguha sat there for a good fifteen minutes before suddenly getting up with the lion in her arms. Her mind was made up. She was going to see her brother.

._._._._._.

/If I'm going to die, then I don't want to leave without a smile on my face./

._._._._._.

Rinko was just about to leave the hospital for a quick breather, but someone oddly familiar caught her eye. A teenaged girl was walking down the hall in a brisk pace. In her arms was a recognizable stuffed animal.

"Suguha-chan...?" Rinko muttered to herself. She quickly changed her path and followed the girl from a distance. Usually, she would meet with her and have a small conversation, but with the determined look on Suguha's face made her reluctant to approach her. She trailed behind since she knew where the girl was headed.

Rinko hid behind in another hall as Suguha took a short pause before entering the room. She was so tempted to join her, but something told her otherwise. Instead, she waited patiently for Suguha to leave and sighed.

That golden lion that Suguha held was a gift from Kayaba. Several times, Kazuto would "complain" (with his hands actually) about how boring the hospital rooms were and it finally got on Kayaba's nerves. To shut the boy up, he grabbed the brightest stuffed animal he spotted and bought it for Kazuto. Rinko was surprised how much it actually cheered the boy up. She smiled when a memory of him flashed before her.

She could see Kazuto sitting up in his bed with a smile as he played with the lion. That was about eight years ago. Rinko smiled fondly at the tiny memory and wished that she could go back to the good, old, happy days before this whole mess with this ridiculous death game. She sighed, knowing that it only be nothing but a wish.

The door opened again about half an hour later as Suguha left the room. Rinko blinked when she noticed the golden lion absent from her arms. She watched in silence as Suguha walked right past her, not even realizing she was there. Rinko understood though, and wasn't offended at all. The poor girl had a lot on her mind, after all.

Rinko shook her head sadly and looked back at Kazuto's room. She subconsciously rubbed her upper arms as she went inside. The moment she look at the bed, she couldn't help the smile that appeared on her lips.

There, sitting innocently next to the frail, pale teenager, was the golden lion. It had its head tilted slightly as it stared ahead, but its body was in the crook of Kazuto's arm, leaning comfortably on him. Her shoulders shook when she remembered the words that Kayaba the day he gave Kazuto the lion.

"One day, you're going to see a world full of color. It's going to be a world full of adventures that you can't find an end to them, even if you tried. And one day, I'll make that world become real. You'll never have to dream again."

If she knew what he truly meant, she could've prevented this.

But she didn't. She didn't understand him at all.


	17. Chapter 17: The Gift of a Lifetime

Chapter 17: T h e G i f t o f A L i f e t i m e

"We're here!" Kirito announced as the small group of three arrived on the 47th floor. Silica gasped at the beautiful scenery before her. Fields of flowers stretched as far as the eye could see. There were several varieties of colors that made Kirito grin. Patches of yellow, blue, green, any color at all. He watched Silica take several steps before him and Klein and take in the sights.

"It's so pretty!" Silica breathed as a small yellow bird fluttered by. Kirito walked up to her and patted her head with a smile.

"Yup! There's so many varieties of flowers here that you could find in reality. Even some from other countries." he stated rather matter-of-factly. He led her to a patch of blue flowers near by and picked a bundle of blue. "Like this one."

"Eh? I don't recognize this one..." Silica said as she stared at it. She perked up for a second. "Wait, are these hydrangeas?"

Kirito nodded. "Right." He handed the bundle of hydrangeas to Silica. She took it as Klein placed his hands on his hip.

"Since when did you know about flowers?" he asked Kirito. The teen gave him a weird look.

"I read it in a book when I was younger." he explained. Klein just hummed as he began to lead the way. Kirito and Silica followed close by.

._._._._._.

"Are you suuuuure you want to do this by yourself?" Kirito asked for the umpteenth time. Silica placed her hands on her hip and gave a confident smile.

"Yup!" she affirmed as she fist pumped the air. "I want to prove that I'm not a burden to Kirito-nii-san and Oji-san!"

Klein stumbled a step and glared at Kirito, who struggled to hold in a laugh. "Oji-san?! I'm twenty-four! I'm not old!"

Silica laughed and ran ahead of them as they continued down the paved road. Nearby players were either ignoring them or glancing at the odd group. Not caring about making a scene, Kirito jumped onto Klein's back to prevent the Guild Leader from storming after Silica. Klein cried out when he face planted the road with a loud smack. Kirito winced at the sound, wondering if he actually injured the man instead. But then, reminded himself that Klein didn't feel pain, so he smiled as he crossed his legs and made himself comfortable on Klein's back.

"Let me go, Kirito!" Klein demanded. Silica stopped not to far away, giving the two a confused look. Kirito stretched his arms above his head and yawned.

"Hmm? I think I heard something. Was that Klein?" he asked as he brought a hand to the crown of his head and looked in several directions with mock wonder. "Kleeeiiin! Where are you?"

Kirito couldn't help but smile as Silica shook her head in amusement.

"Kirito!" he yelled. Kirito laughed as he finally got off of Klein and held a hand toward him to help him up. Klein took his hand and he was pulled up by Kirito.

"Sorry," Kirito apologized with a smile. Klein sighed but ended up waving it off.

"It makes me wonder how I can deal with you..." he said with a frown. Kirito shook his head.

"I wonder the same thing sometimes..." he said as he waved to Silica, who was waving her arms over her head, telling them to hurry up. They shared a quick look (Klein was scowling while Kirito smirked) before continuing on their way with Silica leading the way.

They continued on for a little while with Kirito offering childish games to play to keep Silica entertained (as if all the flowers weren't enough already). Each time they encountered a monster, Klein and Kirito would stand by with their hands hovering over their swords. But, luckily, Silica was able to manage on her own. She was able to gain two levels as a reward. Of course, she was proud of it and began to gain a bit more confidence. All in all, things were going fine. Well, until this particular monster...

"Kyaaaaaaah!" Silica screamed as she was grabbed by the ankle and was struggling to keep her short skirt down. Klein's eyes widened while Kirito was distracted by something else. A small butterfly fluttered past him, catching his attention quickly. Without even a word, he followed the little butterfly, easily slipping away from Klein without even realizing it himself.

He strayed completely off the path and soon found himself surrounded by a small forest he never noticed before. But, as he followed the butterfly, he couldn't help the urgency he felt. He just knew he had to follow the butterfly. Kirito stumbled to a stop when his surroundings suddenly became open. He found himself at the edge of a clearing in the forest. But, oddly, he wasn't alone.

There, right smack in the middle of the clearing playing with the butterfly with its sheathed paws, was a beautiful lion with golden fur and a lovely shade of orange mane. Kirito was rooted to the spot, watched the lion gracefully leapt at the butterfly. His jaw slacked.

"What the...?" he began. The lion suddenly stopped playing with the butterfly and turned to face him. Kirito quickly raised his hands up in defense incase the lion was going to tackle him, but it didn't. They stared at each other for a long moment. Kirito bit his lip as he looked at the health bar floating next to the lion's head. He read the name.

≪Shiku≫

"S-Shiku...?" Kirito stammered. The lion, Shiku, acted immediately. It leapt from its haunches and pinned Kirito to the ground with an uncharacteristic mew of delight. Kirito yelled in shock as the lion practically buried its face in his chest.

"Waah! No, wait! Stop! That tickles!" Kirito begged the lion as he struggled to get up. He was able to finally sit up while the lion kept cuddling him. He was completely shocked when the lion settled next to his left leg and laid its heavy head on his lap. Kirito's hands were high above his head, afraid to even touch the lion.

"Exactly what is up with you?!" Kirito asked as he tried to scoot away from the lion. Oddly, the lion got up and curled around him and gave an "affectionate" lick. Well, Kirito flinching from the wet, rough tongue of the lion licking the whole right side of his face. "Waugh! Gross!"

The lion seemed to be laughing as it shook its head and relaxed with a low, content growl rumbling from its throat. Kirito leaned slightly away for a moment to stare at the lion. Strangely, he couldn't feel that scared anymore. If anything, it was as if the lion just wanted to befriend him. Swallowing nervously, he gingerly reached over to the lion and gently placed a hand in between its ears. It growled happily as its eyes dropped. Kirito felt a little braver and began to run both his hands through the lions soft fur.

"Shiku..." he said as he glanced at the lion's name. Suddenly, without a warning, a picture of a cute, stuffed lion that looked eerily like the lion before him flashed in his head. His hands froze when everything finally clicked into place. He leapt to his feet and grabbed the lion's head to get a good look.

"Shiku?" he breathed as his eyes took in the lion's soft features. "Are you Shiku?"

The lion sunk into Kirito's grasp, answering the teen's question. Kirito breathed out an airy laugh of surprise as he couldn't help but wrap his arms around the lion's neck. The lion rolled to its side, dragging Kirito onto its stomach. Kirito wanted to just stay there and forget about the world for a short moment.

Shiku. He could still remember how his stuffed lion felt in his arms. The golden lion that kept staring at him day after day had became real before him. The lion that had been there since the day his Aki-nii-chan made that promise...that promise he actually kept.

He didn't understand why, but for some reason, Akihiko had created Shiku into a real lion. Shiku was no longer a doll that heard each and every cry of pain, felt every tear that soaked its artificial fur, watched him sleep through every night, and was there to witness a close-knit family. So, why? Why did the creator of SAO bring his lion into this game? Is Shiku under Aki-nii's control? Or was Shiku an AI?

Kirito closed his eyes and relished his short moment of peace. He grip on his lion tightened. He knew he had to go back soon. He left Klein and Silica on their own, and he knew it was just a matter of time before they come crash-

"Kirito!"

He sighed and reluctantly got up, petting Shiku's ear. Just how was he going to explain this to Klein? Shiku rolled onto his paws and gave Kirito another lick.

"Oh, he sooo going to love this..." Kirito muttered, his voice heavy with sarcasm.


	18. Chapter 18: The Little Beast Tamer II

Chapter 18: T h e L i t t l e B e a s t T a m e r I I

"Alright! You did it, Silica-chan!" Klein congratulated the girl as she defeated the Garnish Gerbera. Silica beamed with joy and excitement as she spun on her heel to thank him. She opened her mouth but stopped herself when she noticed something was missing. Or rather-someone was missing.

"Ano, Klein-san, where's Kirito-kun?" Silica asked with a confused expression on her face. Klein's eye immediately widened as he spin on his heel.

"Kirito!" he cried out, desperately searching for the black-haired teen, but the boy was nowhere in sight. He turned back to Silica with a panicked look. "Sorry, Silica, but it looks like we need to make a detour!"

Klein didn't even finish his sentence as he took off in any possible direction Kirito would've gone. Silica blinked in surprise.

"E-eh?! Wait for me!" she called after Klein, hurriedly scurrying in attempt to be not left behind.

To say that Klein was worried, would be an absolute understatement. He was beyond calming when he realized that Kirito was nowhere to be seen. Poor Silica had to scramble just to keep up with Klein.

"Klein-san! Wait for me!" Silica cried as she lost him once again in the forest the somehow ended up in. Klein gritted his teeth and came to a stop, waiting rather impatiently for her to catch up.

"Hurry or else Asuna will have my head!" Klein said just as Silica caught up. He didn't even give her a chance to relax when he continued on at a fast jog. He didn't mean to be rude (especially to a lady), but he was in a desperate situation. In his mother-henning mind, it was always Kirito first, everything else second. He was obsessed or anything. He just didn't want to lose a friend. A ridiculously risky friend with a big heart.

"At least slow down, please!" Silica begged him. Klein pressed his lips into a thin line and slowed his jogging to a fast-paced walk as he muttered an apology. Silica was relieved to slow down and matched his pace. "Why do we have to find Kirito-san quickly? Isn't he fine on his own since he's a solo-player?"

Klein glanced at the small girl and shook his head. "E-eto...he can. It's just that I can't trust him on his own right now. He could get himself killed without even realizing it."

Silica tripped at his words in shock and recovered quickly. "Get himself killed?! That's not good!"

"And that's why we need to hurry!" Klein said as he picked up the pace a bit more. Silica hummed in agreement behind him. He looked around the scenery of trees and tried to find the familiar mop of black. Just as he was passing by a clearing he caught a glimpse of golden and thought nothing of it...that was until he did a double-take, remembering how out of place gold should be in a green forest. There, surrounded by a rolled over golden bundle of fur, was Kirito.

Silica caught it too. "Hey, isn't that-"

"Kirito!"

._._._._._.

Kirito gritted his teeth together when he could feel an oncoming headache, accompanied with a sharp pain in his chest. He placed a fisted hand over his heart and begged for it to go away, but it didn't. He felt Shiku nudge his face in worry ("Can AIs even feel worry?" Kirito asked himself) with his muzzle. He gave Shiku a frown as he ran a free hand in his mane.

"I'll be okay...I think." he muttered, completely unsure of his words. Kirito flinched when he heard his name called out by a familiar voice. He forced a smile on his face as he saw Klein appear at the edge of the clearing, but he dropped it immediately when Klein suddenly dashed forward. His eyes widened in shock. Ignoring the pain, he shoved Shiku aside to dodge a sword skill aimed at the lion.

"Klein! Wait, I can explain!" Kirito exclaimed as Klein chased after the golden lion.

"Get back here, you monster!" Klein snapped at Shiku. The lion leapt and dodged all of Klein's swings with ease, almost as if it was playing a game. Kirito couldn't help but sigh when he felt a small amount of relief. Though, it didn't help with his headache. "I guess...that's fine, too..."

"Kirito-san!" called a voice. Kirito looked over to see Silica dashing to his side. Her eyes were wide in surprise. "Are you hurt?! Were you petting that lion just now?"

Kirito was speechless when he caught the sparkle in Silica's red eyes, barely registering what she just asked. Luckily, Klein's cursing gave him an excuse not to answer her.

"Damn it! Will you stop moving?!" Klein yelled. Holding up an index finger, Kirito glanced at Silica.

"Wait one moment." Without a second thought, he quickly jumped into action and tackled Klein to the ground for the second time today. He winced when his left leg burned more than it usually did. Klein gasped in shock when his face suddenly smacked the ground, his Katana flying out of his hands.

"Urgh! This again, Kirito?!" Klein asked. Kirito didn't pay any attention.

"Klein! Stop it! You're not allowed to hurt Shiku!"

"Wha? Shiku?! You named that lion?!"

"Yes! Now, shut up and let me explain!"

._._.~A couple minutes later~._._.

"So, you're telling me that this...lion is your stuffed animal in real life?!" Klein practically exploded. Kirito pretended not to flinch at Klein's steadily growing stress level and smiled happily.

"Yup! You either love him or hate him, because even I can't tell him to give me space." he said as he struggled to push the golden lion away to get some breathing room. Unfortunately, it wasn't working. The lion just snuggled closer, as if to offer comfort to Kirito.

"Well, I love him! He's so cute and fluffy, but Pina is still better!" Silica said as she ruffled Shiku's ears. Kirito sighed rubbing the temples of his head as Klein groaned and ran both his hands down his face in exasperation.

"Right, I forgot about Pina..." Klein mumbled under his breath. Kirito looked over to Silica.

"We should head back. We wasted enough time with my... lion." he said, warily glancing at Shiku. The lion immediately appeared at his side with a happy purr. Silica didn't seem to mind as she shook her head happily and began to lead the way back to their original route.

"Let's go!" she exclaimed. Kirito shook his head and carefully stood up. His leg still pricked him mercilessly, but he ignored it along with his headache and the twinging pain in his chest. Klein sighed one last time before turning to Kirito.

"You have a lot of explaining to do when we're done helping Silica-chan." he said with a parent-like tone. Kirito couldn't help but chuckle as he strode past him with Shiku trotting after him, putting up an act of being perfectly fine.

"Yes, 'Otou-san'!" he joked.

Of course, Klein (being Klein) somewhat exploded. Kirito didn't really listen to the older man's extensively long rant, but he was sure he heard him say "I'm not old!" or, different versions of the line about...twenty or so times. It took them a while, but the three managed to make it back to the main road. They fought a few monsters (well, Kirito and Klein had to restrain Shiku from attacking while Silica went ahead and fought). Although, they moved at a slower pace, since Kirito kept falling behind. Klein would send him questioning glances, but he just waved them off with reassuring smiles.

"Ano, Kirito-san, Klein-san? Why did you decide of help me?" Silica suddenly asked them as she slowed to walk next to Kirito. Klein shared a look with Kirito.

"Well, I couldn't leave a little girl like you in distress!" Klein said with a grin. He hooked an arm around Kirito's neck, who stumbled, but was quick to catch himself, and messed up the teen's hair. Shiku bristled slightly and padded closer to Kirito.

"Hey!"

"And plus, this guy wanted to help you, too! But, I'm sure it's for another reason though." Klein explained. Kirito glared at him as he managed to get out of Klein's headlock. Silica looked at Kirito curiously. The teen averted his eyes when he realized that she was waiting for an answer.

"...Promise you wouldn't laugh, and I'll tell you." he said, his face flushing slightly red as he looked at the ground and his hands messed with the hem of his shirt. They all came to a short stop. Klein grinned as Silica nodded.

"I promise." Silica said seriously.

"Yeah, yeah, sure. Now out with it!" Klein said happily. Kirito wanted to kick Klein, but he decided against it. His leg would kill him first, if he did. He couldn't look at them as he answered.

"Silica...reminds me of my l-little sister..."

"Eh? I do?" Silica blinked while Klein flat out laughed.

"So that's why you wanted to help her! Wow! I never knew tha-"

"Would you like to become Shiku's dinner?" Kirito asked him casually with a soft smile on his face. Klein's laughter came to an abrupt stop when Shiku crouched low to the ground, tail waving around excitedly.

"...Sorry." Klein said as he raised his hands up in the air. Silica smiled as she imagined Kirito like an older brother. She can already see how he would be fun since he offered to play games on their way to the Hill of Memories.

"Hey! Silica, look! It's up ahead! The Hill of Memories!" Kirito suddenly exclaimed as he pointed to an altar. Silica spun on her heel and took in the sight before her. A white stoned alter with a floating pedestal of dirt was just up ahead. Her eyes widened as she felt a rush of excitement. With one look at Klein and an encouraging smile from Kirito, she skipped ahead, Shiku bounding after her with a amused purr. Klein gave Kirito a side glance.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you?" he stated rather than asked. Kirito grinned as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Who knows?" he said as he began to follow after Silica. When he reached her, the Pneuma Flower had already blossomed. Silica stared at it in awe before she picked it with tentative hands. A bell sounded as she claimed the flower.

"This..." she began as she held the flower close to her. "This will bring her back, right?"

"Of course." Kirito assured. He subconsciously held his left arm with his right as he shifted his weight off of his left leg. He was pretty sure Klein saw him wince. Surprisingly, Shiku was at his side in a blink of an eye, supporting him with a nudge on his left arm. Kirito thanked the lion with a smile as Silica spoke.

"I'm so glad! Thank you, Kirito-san, Klein-san, so much!" Silica exclaimed as she suddenly gave Kirito a hug. He was caught completely off-guard and stumbled into Shiku with a cry of surprise and shock. Thousands of needles shot up his leg as Silica forced him to land on his left side.

"Kirito!" Klein exclaimed in surprise and rushed over to them.

"Ow! Silica, please let go of me!" Kirito practically begged her.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you!" she apologized as she scrambled off of him. Klein was quick to give her a hand to help her up. She took it and moved to the side and Klein held a hand for Kirito.

"You alright, Kirito?" he asked. Kirito didn't answer as he bit the back of his bottom lip and squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the wave of pain to pass. His chest felt like it had a heavy weight placed on him and it was crushing him inside. He even felt like he smacked his head against something, when in reality-or virtual reality-he didn't. Shiku licked his face in attempt to help him, and it worked...somewhat. Silica and Klein shared a looked of worry when he sat there for a good thirty seconds before finally answering.

"I-I'm fine." he breathed as he took Klein's hand, believing the worst was over. The pain in his leg dulled to a throb, but as Klein pulled him up with ease, Kirito was unable to hold his own weight. The needles suddenly felt like knives tearing at his leg. He couldn't hold back a cry of pain as his knees buckled under the pain. Klein, who acted by instinct, quickly pulled Kirito close to him and hooked an arm underneath his legs, carrying him bridal style. It didn't even register in Kirito's head that Klein was carrying him. He felt like he was drowning in water.

"Kirito-san!" Silica yelped as she rushed to see if he was okay. Shiku growled in surprise and nudged Kirito's loose hand. The teen whimpered as he drew his hand away from the tiger and fisted it over his chest, gritting his teeth again the pain. Klein, on the other hand, knew exactly what was happening.

"Klein-san, what's going on?! Is he hurt?" Silica asked, completely confused about what was going on.

"Sorry, Silica, but we're teleporting back to the closest town, right now. When we get back, you should know what to do afterwards, right?" Klein asked as he placed Kirito on Shiku's back. Kirito leaned heavily on Shiku's neck as he struggled to stay up. Silica shook her head.

"A-ah, n-no..." she said. Klein stuck his hand in the pouch on his side and pulled out two blue crystals. He handed one to Silica. She took it, questioning him with a look.

"Once we get back to Floor 35, we're going back to the inn we stayed in and you go and revive Pina, okay?" Klein said. Silica wanted to say something, but the worried look on his face made her stop and nod.

"Okay." She reluctantly agreed. Klein nodded once and picked up Kirito once more with the crystal in hand as Shiku stayed very close. At the same time, Silica and Klein spoke. Their voices clashed strangely, but it worked.

"Teleport: Mishe!"

As Silica glanced at Kirito while the light gathered around them, she felt a twinge of fear. Kirito was paler that a sheet of paper and his face was scrunched up on pain. She didn't know why, but she felt scared.

"What's wrong...?" she muttered to herself as they disappeared.


	19. Chapter 19: The Promise of a Father

Chapter 19: T h e P r o m i s e o f a F a t h e r

"Tadaima~" Midori said tiredly as she closed the door behind her.

It was nearly eleven by the time she got home. Midori sighed as she dropped her bag on the small cabinet table next to the door. She had just arrived from work and she was ready to go to bed. Judging by the time, Suguha should've gone to bed by now. She dropped her keys next to her bag and took off her shoes, placing them neatly in their place. With a tired sigh, she headed to the kitchen to find something quick to eat. On the table was a wrapped plate of croquettes with a bowl of warm miso soup next to it. A pair of chopsticks was placed neatly next to it. A small note was underneath.

She smiled sadly as she picked up the note and read it.

/"--If you haven't eaten yet.

~Sugu"/

Without a moment of hesitation, Midori quickly sat with a short "Itadakimasu!" and went ahead. She had to force herself to eat slowly to savor the taste. She wasn't going to deny that she was hungry. In fact, she hadn't eaten since her lunch break nearly ten hours ago. She did have a slice of pound cake earlier, but it didn't really help when she got swept into a meeting. Shortly afterwards, she had a pile of work on her she didn't have the time to take a break!

About half an hour later, she washed her dishes after she ate and headed upstairs with her bag. She paused at Suguha's closed door, debating whether to check on her or not. The date was short lived as Midori opened the door to her daughter's room. She peeked inside and saw Suguha curled up under her blankets, sleeping peacefully. She smiled at Suguha and began to close the door.

Unbeknownst to her, Suguha was just up, pretending to be sleeping. Midori closed the door to her room that she shared with her husband and placed her bag on the dresser. She tiredly dressed out of her day clothes and switched to a baby blue button-down with matching pants for sleeping. She took out her phone and checked if she received any notifications from anything. Suddenly, her phone rang.

*Riiiiing. Riiiiing.Riiiiing.*

Midori blinked at the caller ID.

/Kirigaya Minetaka/

"Mine-kun...?" she muttered to herself in a slight daze. Her husband, Minetaka, usually never called that late at night when he went on business trips. Surprised but relieved, she hurriedly answered her phone. "H-hello? Minetaka-kun?"

/"Ah, Midori-chan. It's good to hear your voice again."/ came a warm, baritone voice. Midori gripped her phone a little harder.

"It's good to hear yours, too." she said, "Is everything alright? It's very unusual for you to be calling me this late in the evening."

/"Sorry, sorry. Were you sleeping?"/ Minetaka asked. She shook her head, forgetting that her husband couldn't see her.

"Oh, no. I just got home nearly an hour ago. How are you?" Midori questioned.

/"I'm well. How are you and the kids?"/

Midori frowned as she got up to get a glass of water. "I'm...managing. Work seems to be pulling up a bit, but they're starting to cut me a bit of slack. So, it's not too much. Suguha has been doing well in her studies and practicing every day for the nationals. I'm very sure that she'll do her best."

She quietly headed down the stairs and went into the kitchen. She grabbed a cup and got a glass of water. She paused and drank all of it as Minetaka's voice came again.

/"...What about... Kazuto-kun? Is he alright?"/ His voice was somber. Midori sighed as she placed the cup next to the sink and ran a hand through her hair.

"He's...not doing well." She said, deciding not to sugarcoat anything as she headed back upstairs. "I received a call from Rinko-san, and he has a fever. She's doing everything she can to lower his temperature. I'm sure he'll hate us for this, but I decided to put him on the list for a new heart. Rinko-san helped me with that..."

She stopped at the top of the stairs as she gripped her cell phone with both hands to her ear, her voice shaking. "Minetaka, I don't think I can take this anymore. He doesn't have much time. I can't stand watching him die slowly. I can't help but always wonder, what if his heart fails suddenly? What if this death game kills him instead? What if we never get the chance to talk to him? What if he leaves before you ever get back?"

/"Midori-chan-"/

"What if he gets out of the game and the heart he desperately needs isn't there? What if-"

/"Midori! Stop."/ Minetaka said firmly. /"Don't go any further. Kazuto-kun will live. Stop doubting and start hoping, praying that he will push through and make it out of that game alive! We may not be able to get to him in the game, but the least we can do is support him from the outside."/

Midori bit the back of her lips to stop her rant. It was true. She could no longer bear the pain of watching Kazuto living by machines, or the harsh, gut-wrenching stress from the "what if's" that constantly plagued her.

/"Please, Midori, don't say those things. We will get through this."/ he said. Midori closed her eyes and bowed her head.

"Right. We will." she finally said after a moment, leaning against the wall with her back. There was a short moment of silence between them...until Minetaka broke it.

/"U-uhm...Midori-chan, I, ah...I was just going to call you about-*sigh* I'll stop stalling. I'm coming home. I'll be there by tomorrow afternoon."/ He said. Midori stiffened.

"Eh?" Midori asked dumbly as her grip on her cellphone loosened slightly. "I'm sorry, what?"

There was a small sad, yet hopeful chuckle on the other end. /"I'm coming home. To Kazuto-kun; to Suguha-chan...and to you. This time, I can be there, I'll be there to see him wake up. I promise."/

Midori clamped her hand over her mouth as she slid down the wall when her knees slowly lost their strength. An overwhelming sense of relief and sadness poured over her when it finally sank it.

/"I promise."/

._._._._._.

Suguha wasn't asleep at all. She was wide awake when she heard her mother talking to someone on the phone. She couldn't really catch who she was talking to, but she heard her brother's name as her mother was coming up the stairs. Her curiosity got the better of her as she leaned her ear against her door and knelt to the floor.

/"-on't think I can take this anymore. He doesn't have much time. I can't stand watching him die slowly. I can't help but always wonder, what if his heart fails suddenly? What if this death game kills him instead? What if we never get the chance to talk to him? What if he leaves before you ever get back? What if he gets out of the game and the heart he desperately needs isn't there? What if-"/

There was a sudden pause as Suguha gasped quietly. Heart? What heart? She never knew that her brother was on the waiting list. In fact, Kazuto told her himself that he didn't want a new heart. Did her mother get him on the waiting list without his consent?

Suguha moved away from her door and slipped back into bed, laying on her side. But, she could understand why her mother would. She would rather have her brother alive and well, instead of alive, yet dying. She pulled her knees to her chest and closed her eyes, feeling the weight of the stress of reality.

Kazuto was her world. Even though he could not do much on his own, he was always there, giving her hope and joy. To live in a world where he was no longer was physically there was just...scary to Suguha. She couldn't imagine not seeing her brother smiling at her when she comes home every day from school or practice. Her days would be empty.

If the pain in her heart she had now is only just the fact that Kazuto was in a hospital, then how much would that same pain grow if he--

She shook her head and buried her face into her blankets. No, she wouldn't think that way. She could do at the current moment was keep hoping and praying that her brother will come back to her alive and well.

"Please, Kami-sama, don't take Onii-chan. Bring him home." Suguha whispered into her blanket.


	20. Chapter 20: The Cardinal's Choice

Chapter 20: T h e C a r d i n a l ' s C h o i c e

The sun filtered through the window and slowly crossed the room, resting on a teen's half-curled hand. The teen didn't twitch his hand until a few seconds later. He scrunched his eyes together before slowly blinking them open.

Kirito stared at the ceiling above him with dazed eyes; his mind completely blank. He couldn't seem to register anything at the moment, even just to think about anything. He felt like he was half-there, and half-here. Or just dead tired.

Not a single thought occurred to him as he just laid there, feeling no sense of urgency or worry. Should he be worried? Well, yes, but could he bring himself to care? ...Unfortunately, no. He still couldn't register anything.

Not even when someone with red hair and a bandana appeared above him. Or even the words that formed on the man's lips. It was like hearing the man talking through muffled wall, distant, but heard. He could only stare, and not a single thought came to him.

Maybe he should've at the very least tried to think, or even care, but he could bring himself to do it. Instead, his eyes slowly slipped closed as he heard the man's voice gradually getting clearer.

"...-irito!"

Everything, for that brief moment, slipped through his hands as he fell back into a world of darkness.

"Kirito!!"

He still couldn't bring himself to care.

._._._._._.

~A few hours later~

Kirito finally stirred from his sleep. His body tensed as he slowly opened his eyes. The room was lit with a lamp at his left. Outside was dark, slowly setting into the night. Kirito hissed as he sat up, cursing at his throbbing head. A ball of fur rolled off of his arm and tumbled right off the bed with a small thump!

"What the....?" Kirito muttered as he placed a hand to his head. He peered at the floor and took note of a golden ball of...an animal. "...heck is that....?"

Suddenly the ball unraveled into a cat-like creature with an orange gold mane. The two shared a loooong stare, almost as if they both couldn't believe their eyes. Kirito looked at his HP bar and quickly read the names underneath his own. In addition to Klein's HP bar, there was Shiku's. His lion. It finally clicked in his head.

"Shiku?!"

Kirito barely had the chance to yell, when the cat-lion leapt at him with a happy purr.

"Wah!" Kirito fell back on the bed with Shiku licking his face. "Gah! No! What are you doing?!"

He scrambled out of bed and stumbled to the floor when his knees suddenly buckled underneath him. He easily face-planted the floor with a yelp. Shiku mewed in surprise and bounded over to him hurriedly. Kirito laid there for a second, hiding his face flushing in embarrassment. A few seconds later, he finally looked up to see the cat-lion crouching in front of him.

"...That was embarrassing." Kirito stated rather bluntly. Shiku mewed in agreement as he began to lift himself up. His arms shook as he tried to drag his legs underneath him, though, only his right moved. His dark eyes widened in shock. "Oh, no. Please tell me this isn't happening..."

*Knock, knock, knock*

Kirito craned his neck to see the door behind him open. Klein was sighing as he entered the room and paused at the sight in front of him. Kirito managed a smile.

"Good evening...?" he greeted. Klein immediately brightened.

"Ah! Kirito! You're up--" he did a double take. "What are you doing on the floor?!"

"...Stretching." Unfortunately for Kirito, his arms gave way and he landed on Shiku, who happened to be directly below him. The poor cat-lion screeched as he was sandwiched to the floor with Kirito's stomach. Klein crossed his arms and gave him the "Oh, really" look.

Kirito rolled his eyes and struggled to lift himself up again. Klein hurried to his side and helped him sit up.

"You okay?" he asked Kirito. The teen scowled and gripped Klein's shoulder.

"No. I feel like crap all over and I can't seem to move my legs..." he trailed off as when he remembered how it was nearly the same way in reality. Klein silently understood. He easily picked him up and placed him back on the bed. Shiku leapt up on the bed once Kirito was settled back into bed with the guild leader's help.

"You know, you gave us a scare back there." Klein began as he pulled up a chair. Kirito ruffled Shiku's mane and avoided Klein's eyes.

"Sorry," he apologized, "I don't know what came over me. It was just so sudden that I can't even seem to put it in words."

"You know, you're going to have to pretty soon. Asuna hasn't been in a good mood at all. In fact, Heathcliff had to tell her to get a vacation!" Klein said with amusement in his voice. Kirito stared at him for a moment before giving him a look.

"Who are you and what have you done with Klein?" he deadpanned. Klein felt his jaw drop as he hunched forward in surprise.

"What?! No, it's me Klein! Of course I'm Klein! What makes you think I'm not?!" the guild leader demanded as he stood up with his arms crossed. Kirito haphazardly shrugged his shoulders.

"You're not bombarding me with questions, not telling me what I should do and not do....not even being an annoying mom." Klein could definitely hear the smile in Kirito's voice as he spoke. In truth, he did want to ask him questions. He wanted to scold him and yell at him for making everyone worry. Heck, even Silica, the girl they just befriended, and Heathcliff (of all people to worry) was getting scared.

"Well, I figured that if Asuna is still upset, I'll leave all the scolding to her." Klein said, defensively. He sighed and sat back down, running a hand though his hair. "Look, Kirito, you've been out for a week."

"A week?!" Kirito exclaimed. He instantly regretted it as a splitting headache appeared once again. He gritted his teeth and hissed slightly. Shiku nudged his hand in comfort. Of course, he didn't miss the frown on Klein's face.

"Yeah, a week. Although, you did wake up here and there, but you didn't seem to hear me when I called out to you." Klein said. Kirito closed his eyes and tilted his head back.

"I did?" he questioned. Klein gave him a grim nod.

"Are you sure you're alright? It could be-"

"-that my NerveGear was lagging." he cut in, but he knew. He knew he was just lying to himself and Klein. His body was reaching its limit, and he shouldn't even attempt to sugar coat it.

"Kirito...this could be worse than you think." Klein said with a serious voice. The teen shook his head and plastered a smile on his face.

"Yeah, I know," Kirito said as he gathered Shiku in his arms, "all the more reason why we just have to clear the game."

Klein sat there for a moment, pondering over what to do. Once Kirito was well enough to get out of bed, what was he going to do? He knew that telling Kirito to stay in one place was never going to work, but neither could taking him to the Front Lines would. He could probably take him on small, easy-going missions, but Kirito would more than likely get irritated. But then, what would happen if Kirito never got better? What could he do then? Kirito was a naturally stubborn, rebellious child, so there wasn't he could do about that anyway...

He sighed and got up, giving Kirito an affectionate pat on the head. Kirito flinched and gave him a perplexed look. Klein easily felt the heat of his fever with a single touch and it made him worry.

"You get some more rest," he said as he headed to the door, "I'll get you something to eat."

Kirito blinked after him with a tilted head. "And when you come back, you better be Klein."

The guild leader paused as he took in Kirito's words. Not a moment later, his usual smile appeared on his face and he gave Kirito a thumbs-up. "Hahaha, you got it, Kirito!"

Though it was a bit forced, Kirito didn't doubt for a second that Klein would go back to his usual self. If there was going to be one grim person, it should be Kirito himself. He released Shiku from his grip and allowed the cat-lion to curl up at the end of his bed. Sighing, he decided to check if nothing actually changed in his stats while he was out...

Now, suddenly bored, he swiped his hand down and randomly began to stroll around. Kirito stared at his menu, more specifically, his skills. Nothing at the current moment was making any sense to him. He dismissed his menu and sat there for a good five seconds before reopening his menu to his skills. He bit the back of his lip and let his eyes reread the same two words over and over.

"Dual...blades...?" he finally muttered to himself. He looked up with a dumbfounded face. "Ah. >."

Realization finally dawned on him. "Oh my-Aki-nii-chan!"

Without really thinking, he leapt out of bed and jumped out the window with only one thing in mind. To see Heathcliff. It didn't really register in his head that he was actually running and not stumbling around like a fool. Nor did it register that he was only wearing a black shirt, a pair of black pants, no shoes, or even a sword equipped. All he just had to do was run. Run and see his "brother".

._._._._._.

Heathcliff heaved a sigh as he finally managed to get the meeting room empty for the day. His only source of light was from the lamps at the corners of the room. He already shared his plans for the next day to his leading members (Asuna was a bit unfocused, and Heathcliff never bothered to blame her), and he was ready to log out for a few short hours. Of course, he enjoyed the world that he created, but for some odd reason, it was beginning to seem a little...less exciting now.

For once, he was beginning to question himself. When he heard that Kirito collapsed a week ago, he felt a spike of fear he was very familiar to. Every phone call from the hospital, from Rinko, or from Midori, he felt that same fear. He knew why he created this game. He knew why he wanted to create a world of his own. He wanted to be a king, a ruler, a god. He wanted to create a world as a haven for a child who could never be a child; a place for that child to have a bit of fun and forget their surroundings, even for just a moment.

But, he created his world out of fear, of losing someone he cared dearly for.

"This...probably wasn't what I wanted." he said out loud in the empty room. His voice echoed off the walls, giving him a feel of loneliness. "And...this is most likely what Kazuto-kun never wanted..."

He placed his elbows on the table before him and buried his tired face in his hands. He could remember how Kazuto would give an easy smile every single day, but that smile rarely ever appeared on Kirito's face. Kirito was barely anything like the Kazuto he knew. Kazuto was a thin slate of glass that displayed his happiness, while Kirito was a heavy curtain of uncertainty and desperation. Was it Heathcliff's fault for making the Kazuto he knew into Kirito?

Most likely.

"Damn it..." Heathcliff cursed. He should've-

Bang!

._._._._._.

"Get back here! You can't go in without permission!" screamed a severely pissed off Kuradeel. The Black Swordsman promptly ignored him and scurried down a hall and took a left. The moment he arrived at the >, he bypassed everyone who tried to question him saying, "Please, pardon my intrusion!" Of course, he just had to run into Asuna's bodyguard, Kuradeel. Kirito practically labeled him as a boneless chicken that lost its head. Kuradeel tried to grab him by the arm, but Kirito's arm was thin and he slipped away like water.

Once he reach two double doors, Kirito slammed the doors open with no hesitation and ran inside. He saw Heathcliff looking up in surprise and standing up, hand hovering over his sword. Kirito didn't dare to slow down as he jumped over the width of the long table and karate chopped Heathcliff on the head.

*SMACK!*

"IIIIIDIOT!!" Kirito cried, forcing Heathcliff into his chair. He landed on the edge of the table with one knee touching the surface and glared dangerously at the guild leader.

"WHA!?"

"Heathcliff!"

Kirito ignored Heathcliff's raised hand (for Kuradeel to stand down) and pointed an accusing finger at him. He was pretty sure that Kuradeel listened. Well, he hoped.

"You're an idiot! An epic fool! A shortsighted, ridiculous-" Kirito cut himself off and turned around to see Kuradeel ready to capture him. The Black Swordsman pointed at him with such vigor that Kuradeel was taken aback. "You! Get out of here! I need to talk to your stupid guild leader!"

"Don't addre-"

"OUT!"

"Kuradeel, please. Close the doors while you're at it." Heathcliff said, leaning slightly out of his chair to see past Kirito. With an angered expression, Kuradeel turned on his heel and hurriedly headed toward the door. Just outside the room, Kirito could see a small crowd of KoB members looking in with curiosity. He waited until those doors were closed before turning back to Heathcliff.

"...Truce?" Heathcliff asked with a bit of a hopeful smile, breaking the dead silence between them. Kirito narrowed his eyes at him.

"...Stupidest, bird-brained, 'supposedly mature', non-blood related, older brother who lost his marbles." he spat, finally finishing his earlier sentence. Heathcliff's smile faltered as his shoulders fell. Kirito glanced at the side for a moment as if thinking something over. "...But, yeah, I guess. Truce."

"...Are you having mood swings?" Heathcliff asked rather randomly. Kirito rolled his eyes and karate chopped his head fiercely once more.

*Smack!*

Heathcliff was secretly glad he disabled the pain absorption, because he knew that he would've gotten a concussion in real life.

"No. I'm fuming inside and trying hard not to snap again." Kirito said with a smile.

"I-I see... What's wrong Kazuto-kun?" Heathcliff asked, forgetting to address him as "Kirito". The teen blinked at the use of his real name. For some odd reason a bit of his anger lightened a little. Let's repeat that again...a little. Kirito shook his head and glared at him.

">. Explain. Now." he demanded. Kirito knew he was being rude and such, but at the current moment, he was upset. Really upset.

"What? >? You received the >?" Heathcliff asked, confusion clear on his face.

"Don't play dumb with me!" Kirito snapped. "You know I did! Aki-nii, you should've given it to someone else! I can't accept this skill. There are thousands of others who are more qualified than me. Klein would've been a better choice. Or Asuna! And yet you chose me to have this >? Why-Heathcliff?"

Kirito cut himself off when he noticed the look of disbelief on Heathcliff's face. He felt a pang of nervousness as his anger slowly dissolved. Their eyes meet and Heathcliff's was dead serious.

"Kazuto-kun...I was not the one who chose who received a >. I only created them. The Cardinal System does."

Kirito blinked. "Eh?"


	21. Chapter 21: The Blacksmith's a Friend

Chapter 21: T h e B l a c k s m i t h ' s a F r i e n d

Dual blades; the ability that allowed the wielder to hold two one-handed swords at once. Also, one of the Skills given to a player by the Cardinal System.

At first, Kirito was about to keep it to himself, but...the moment he returned to his room, Asuna bombarded him. He literally sat on his bed with Shiku dozing off next to him to listen to her rant her frustration and worry on him. Of course, none of the words were as condescending as they sounded. She scolded him about running off, not telling them where in the world he went. If there was one think Kirito could relate her to, then he would admit to finding a second "Suguha".

"Asuna-" he began, but she cut him off with a hand motion.

"Let me finish!" she snapped. "You nearly cause another panic attack for all of us! What were you thinking?! Going off on your own without saying anything is bad, Kirito! And without anything equipped for that matter!"

Kirito gave her a nervous smile. "I just needed to confirm something!"

"And what's that?" Asuna said, hardly believing him.

"Well..." Kirito trailed off, not knowing how to explain it to her. He pulled his knees to his chest and secured an arm around them. He opened his menu with his right hand and made it visible for Asuna, showing his skill. "I just wanted to make sure this wasn't a lie."

"...Dual blades...?" Asuna read. All of her anger suddenly defused as she began to give him a change to explain himself. She gave him a shocked look when it registered. "Isn't that one of those 'Special Skills'?!"

Kirito shrugged and closed his menu. "I don't know. It just suddenly appeared."

"Kirito! You don't just brush off something as rare as this just like that! This is pretty serious!" Asuna exclaimed. Kirito huffed slightly and turned his head away from her.

"Well, I could! It sucks that I can't do anything since I don't have a sword that's the same level as Elucidator, anyway."

"You mean that black sword you got when we fought that mini boss a few weeks back?"

Kirito nodded and rested his chin on his knees. "Yeah, I gotten a hang of the weight and I can decently use it, but...how can I practice that skill if the sword isn't the same level as the one I have now?"

Asuna hummed in thought as she paced back and forth in front of Kirito with a hand at her chin. "Hmmnn...I do know someone who could probably help us."

"...who?" Kirito asked, somewhat reluctantly. Asuna stopped her pacing and grinned.

"Oh, you'll see, Kirito. But, first, let's train that new skill of yours."

Kirito tilted his head. "With what?"

"Crappy swords."

"What? Wouldn't I break them?" Kirito said as he stared at Asuna as if she was crazy. She shrugged her shoulders with a smile.

"Not when you just got your new skill."

He sighed. "Well...I guess it can't hurt to try..."

._._.~A Week and a Half Later~._._.

Kirito looked a little skeptical as he looked at the little house near a river. "Hmmm, I don't know, Asuna. Are you sure this blacksmith doesn't look too hard? I'd hate to have yet another person constantly nagging me..."

Asuna confidently placed a hand on her hip with a smile. "Oh, cheer up, Kirito! As long as we don't mention anything and stay perfectly normal, then we'll be fine!"

The Black Swordsman bit the back of his lip. "She's your best friend, right...?"

"Yup! She's the best friend and blacksmith you would ever find in Aincrad." Asuna replied with a smile. She grabbed his wrist and began to cross the small paved bridge. Shiku trotted next to Kirito as he stumbled after her with a forced a smile.

"...I'm screwed. I just know I am." he muttered under his breath.

Unable to protest anymore, Kirito reluctantly followed Asuna to the doorstep of the blacksmith. Trailing his heels, Shiku padded quickly to stay close. The lion was still small, cute, and tiny, but it was still very useful...somehow. Asuna knocked on the door and opened it a second later. Kirito blinked in awe of the place. The whole store was full of weapons of all length and sizes. Several of them were placed on shelves, clustered in barrels and displayed on the wall. Kirito couldn't help but feel impressed.

"Wow. She must've been bored if she made this much." he said. He chuckled when Shiku leapt onto the ledge of a barrel and stared at his reflection on one of the shiny swords. Asuna dragged him to the counter at the back of the shop.

"Lisbeth-chan!" Asuna called. Just faintly they heard a distant reply from an open doorway leading to the back of the shop.

"Ah! Coming!"

Kirito heard someone climbing up steps and blinked at the sight of the blacksmith. She wore a dark red top with puffed up sleeves and a flared skirt of the same color. She also had a white apron over it with a bright red ribbon on her chest. A happy smile graced her features as she walked in.

"Hey, Asuna-chan! Looks like you brought a friend this time. Is he the one you're always worrying over?" The blacksmith greeted with a wave. Asuna placed her hands on either side of Kirito's shoulders and shoved him a little toward the counter.

"I don't worry that much, but yeah. This one here needs a sword." She said. Kirito forced a smile as he gave Lisbeth a small nod.

"H-hi..."

There was a long silence as Lisbeth stared at him.

"A-ah..."

"Aren't you that guy I'd seen last night?" She asked suddenly. Kirito gave her a look of confusion.

"W-what?"

"I think I saw you running around with nothing equipped last night. You really do look like him..." Lisbeth trailed off, looking him over once more.

"E-eh?" Kirito sweat dropped.

Lisbeth placed a hand on her hip and smirked. "You know there's a rumor about how a boy who looked like the Black Swordsman was running around. Some are saying that he's strong enough to fight with just his fists now. Can you?"

"What? No, of course not!" Kirito said as he raised his hands up in defense, palms forward. "I was just in a hurry, that's all!"

Asuna scowled and punched him lightly, "And you better not to it again."

"I won't! Geez." Kirito snapped, getting slightly irritated. He turned to Lisbeth. "Setting that aside! What's the strongest sword you have here?"

"My strongest sword?" Lisbeth asked, making sure she heard that right. She grinned confidently and reached to the sword magnificently displayed right behind her counter. Kirito couldn't help but stare at it as he took it into his hands. The sheath was dark grey and the sword looked very simple. He tuned out Lisbeth as she began to rant about how he would never find a sword better than that.

Asuna just watched in curiosity as Kirito unsheathed the sword. He gave Asuna the sheath and backed away a few steps.

"It's so light..." he muttered. Kirito gave the sword a test swing and pressed his lips together.

"So? Is it great or is it great?" Lisbeth asked with a hand on her hip with a smirk. Asuna said nothing as she tilted her head at Kirito. He just placed the tip of the sword at the edge of the counter, unsheathing Elucidator.

"What are you doing?" the blacksmith asked as a tiny sweat drop formed on her cheek, feeling a bit nervous. Kirito gave her an innocent smile and swung Elucidator down. The sword shattered into glass shards the moment his sword touched it. Kirito gaped in shock. He never expected that!

Nervous, he looked at Asuna, who stared at him in surprise, then to Lisbeth. The blacksmith's jaw was hanging open with devastation. "You did not just-!"

There was a long, deathly silent pause. Shiku leapt onto the counter and looked back and forth between Kirito and Lisbeth. Then, he meowed.

"YOU BROKE MY STRONGEST SWORD!!!" Lisbeth snapped, pointing a rigorous finger at Kirito. "HOW DARE YOU!!"

Kirito stumbled back while giving her a confused look. "But wasn't it because the durability and strength were low that it broke...?"

Asuna bit her bottom lip to stop her laughter. "Pfft! Kirito, you just downgraded Lisbeth's work."

Kirito looked at her. "Hah?!"

Lisbeth stomped her foot and yelled angrily, "What the heck were you thinking!? Destroying people's creations as if they were nothing! You've got some nerve, you IDIOT!"

"I-I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! I swear! I'm sorry!" Kirito apologized, the words automatically slipping from his mouth. "I just wanted to-"

"Wanted to what? Destroy my sword!?" Lisbeth cried. She dropped her shoulders and wailed to the ceiling. "And it was my best creation ever!"

Kirito sheathed Elucidator and held his elbows. "Um...does that mean you can't help me?"

Lisbeth blinked and stared at him. "You broke my strongest sword. What more can I do for you? Give you another to break?"

"I-I didn't mean it..." Kirito apologized once more. Asuna sighed and placed her hands at her hips.

"Oh, come on, Lisbeth. I'm sure you can make a better sword somehow. Kirito really needs one." She said with a hopeful smile. Lisbeth pressed her lips together as she thought. Kirito watched with slightly hopeful eyes. It was clear to Lisbeth that he really wanted a strong sword, but, what for completely eluded her. After all, how in the world could she forge a sword as good as the black sword strapped to his back?! Even though her skill as a blacksmith was top par, she couldn't make anything better unless she had a high level-

She froze as an idea popped in her head.

"That's it! I can make a better sword if I had a high-level material!" Lisbeth exclaimed. "If I can just get the Crystallite Ingot, then I can craft a sword just as good as Elucidator!"

Kirito's eyes immediately brightened. "Really?! That's at the West Mountain! I'll go get the Crystallite Ingot and-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold it right there, Kirito." Asuna said as she stepped right in front of Kirito's face. "You are not going anywhere."

"But-"

"When was the last time you engaged in an actual fight?"

"Ahhh...A week...?" Kirito answered, hesitantly. Asuna frowned with unimpressed eyes, making him give in. "...and a half. But that doesn't mean-"

"That you'll stay behind? Oh, I don't care. I'm making you stay behind. Even if I have to tie you to the counter!" Asuna threatened. Kirito took a step back and crossed his arms with a (cute) angry pout.

"But it doesn't mean that I'm weak! Besides, I was practicing that week and a half, Asuna." Kirito said, trying to convince her to let him go. Asuna placed a hand on her hip and gave him a look.

"That's still a no." she said.

"Oh, come on!"

Lisbeth blinked at the interaction of the two. She never saw Asuna argue with a person before. "Uhm...Why don't we make him come along? It's his sword I'm making."

"She's right, Asuna." Kirito added with a shrug of his shoulders. "It is my sword."

"No." came Asuna's answer.

"Asuna!"

The swordswoman ignored Kirito, who uncrossed his arms in disbelief, and turned to Lisbeth. "You and I will go and get the Crystallite Ingot. Is it alright to leave Kirito here? I'm sure we'll be quick."

Lisbeth shrugged her shoulders. "Well...if he can watch over the shop while we're gone, then I'll be fine, but-"

"Then it's a done deal!" Asuna said as she grabbed Lisbeth's arm and pulled her right over the counter.

"Wah!" Lisbeth cried as she scrambled to keep herself steady as she was pulled to the front door.

"H-hey! Asuna, you can't be serious!" Kirito said as he followed behind. Lisbeth managed to get her balance back as Asuna opened the door and stepped out. Asuna suddenly released Lisbeth and reached over to grab the door handle. Kirito stopped right in front of the door in confusion as Asuna smiled.

"I am serious, Kirito. So, don't mess up anything until we get back, okay?" Asuna said.

"Huh? Wai-"

*Slam!*

Asuna slammed the door shut before Kirito could say anything more and turned to Lisbeth. "Hurry and lock the door!"

"E-eh?!"

"Just do it!"

"R-right!" Lisbeth did what she was told and quickly opened her menu and locked her shop. Automatically, a sign reading "closed" appeared at the door. Asuna didn't let go of the door until there was banging on the other side.

"HEY! You can't be serious about locking me in here! Let me out!" came Kirito's muffled voice. There was more banging as Asuna heaved a sigh.

"Sorry, Kirito! It's for your own good." Asuna reasoned. She turned around and patted Lisbeth's shoulder. "Let's go?"

"Wait! Stop! The lights turned off! Crap! Please don't take too long!!"

Lisbeth couldn't help the guilty smile as she looked back. "Is he going to be alright by himself...?"

"Oh, he'll be fine. He's the Black Swordsman, after all!"

._._._._._.

Kirito kept banging on the door for a minute longer, before completely giving up. He knew why Asuna would make him stay behind, but that didn't mean locking him up in the shop for Heaven's sake! He sighed heavily and leaned against the door. Sinking to the ground, he wrapped an arm around his knees and buried his head in his arms.

"Great. Juuuust great. Now what?" Kirito muttered to himself.

"Meow!"

Kirito's head shot up immediately and stopped the faint outline of Shiku's golden fur. "Oh, yeah. I forgot you were here."

He reached out his hands and gestured Shiku to come, "Come here, Shiku."

The little lion only meowed again and bonded off somewhere. Kirito felt himself grimace and rewrapped his arms around his knees once more. "Great. Even Shiku left me here."

He could've sworn he dozed off until he heard something fall. Kirito drowsily lifted his head and searched for the source of the sound before giving up ten seconds later. "It was probably just me imagining things."

*Ka-Crash!*

"What the?" Kirito blinked himself awake and stood up from his place at the door and squinted through the dark. "Ugh, why is it so hard to-" then a though popped into his head.

"Oh, what the heck, I have that night vision skill, idiot." He muttered to himself as he activated his skill. He expected to see a well-organized store, until he saw a toppled spear on the floor. He sighed and went over to pick it up. At the corner of his eye, he saw Shiku sitting in front of a barrel of axes.

"Darn it, Shiku, you shouldn't be messing things up." Kirito said as he placed the spear back. Sighing, he looked around and spotted a sword next to Shiku. "Really?"

"Meow!" Shiku flicked his tail and appeared to smile. Kirito pressed his lips together and picked up the sword.

"Seriously, Lisbeth would kill me if she found her shop all messed up. Stop it-" He cut himself off when he stepped on something that cracked. "Eh?"

Not even a split second later, a shill shriek rang through Kirito's ears and made him jump so high, he could've sworn he jumped six feet in the air.

All of a sudden his night vision disappeared and he heard everything start crashing to the floor and a barrel toppling over. Scared out of his wits, he somehow managed to find an empty barrel and hopped right into it. Kirito covered his ears as he waited for Shiku to calm down. There was no way in heck was he about to get skewered by weapons. Not now, and not ever.

After a long while, the crashes finally stopped, but Kirito didn't leave the barrel as Shiku stared at him from the rim above him. Eerily glowing eyes seemed to bore into him. Kirito laughed nervously and tried squish himself deeper into the barrel.

"Ahahaha...Good, kitty. Goood K-Kitty....." He said, his voice shaking as he silently begged for Asuna and Lisbeth to hurry back. At that moment, he vowed to never, ever step on Shiku's tail ever again. Not all cats are always good to their master, apparently.


	22. Chapter 22: The Willing

Chapter 22: T h e W i l l i n g

A teen with light, chocolate colored hair and dark grey eyes stood in front of a door, staring at the nameplate right by it. The big bold numbers of 274 seemed to be mocking him, teasing him. To him, the door was just daring him to enter. Behind that door, he knew there was someone there; a child who was similar to him.

Just earlier today, he overheard a few gossiping nurses. He never really liked them, but he learned to get used to it. It was his only way to get information around the hospital. He heard about thousands of people trapped in a game, and he found that hard to believe until he saw the news. He couldn't help but thank his luck. At one point, he wanted to buy it, but he feared that the tumor in his head would get worse. He heard many times before about people who needed new kidneys, or lungs, but never...a heart. The child's name was never mentioned and it only made his curiosity grow. When he finally asked one of the nurses, he managed to only get a name.

Kirigaya Kazuto.

Taking another breath, the teen reached for the door knob. He was only able to tap the surface when someone behind him called his name.

"Suzuku! I finally found you!"

The teen, Suzuku, retracted his hand and stepped away from the door. He saw the only friend he had in the world scamper to him in worry. The girl had short black hair with small ribbons tried at the side of her face and dark eyes framed with dark-rimmed glasses. She grabbed his hand and pulled him slightly, "Suzu, come on, Rinko-san was looking for you."

Suzuku tugged at his hand and stayed rooted. She turned to look at him with confusion.

"Why aren't you coming?" she asked him. With one hand, he signed with practiced ease.

"Asada, please let me visit this room."

The girl, Asada, perfectly understood him and looked at the room. "This room? You don't even know this person and yet you're visiting him?"

Suzuku nodded and took his hand back when he felt her loosen her grip. Asada did nothing to stop him as she just sighed. "Alright, fine. I'll wait here, but make it quick. I don't know how long Rinko-san can wait for us."

With a thankful smile, he swallowed his fear and went right inside, closing the door behind him. Softly, he could hear Asada mumbling, "Always had to see things yourself, huh, Suzu?"

He couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face as he closed his eyes. He was a bit jealous of her. She knew him better than he knew himself. It made him wonder why she would come to visit him when she lived far from here. He knew she used to live near him before an incident made her move away, though, they weren't close before. They were only acquaintances in the same class in primary school. She had another friend (at least, he hoped so) back in her place that kept her company when she sort of needed it. As far as he was concerned, she came to find a way to relieve her stress. In the same way, Suzuku saw her as someone to look forward to seeing.

Opening his eyes, he felt himself frown. The window was open and the wind was very gentle. The sunlight lit up the room softly, making the room somewhat inviting. His gaze quickly caught the machines and monitors. The familiar sounds of the beeps made him cringe. Was it really that bad?

Suzuku pulled up a chair and took note of the vases of flowers and the stuffed toys at the nightstand. There wasn't a single card that said "Get Well!" or "I Hope You Wake Up". In fact, there wasn't a card at all. There was a cream stuffed bear sitting on the edge, accompanied with a giraffe, a tiger, and a cute light blue bunny. He found it odd how only a fat lion was right next to the other teen's arm. He tilted his head. What made the lion so special?

He continued to sit there, staring at the Nerve Gear in dislike. The teen was trapped in the game. Briefly, Suzuku wondered why Kazuto would play that game when he was ill. Was he that desperate to get away from everything? Did that fake reality look that appealing?

Honestly speaking, Suzuku wouldn't have minded playing the game, but not...get trapped in it. Maybe that was the reason Kazuto played Sword Art Online? Maybe he thought it was just for a tiny bit?

Suzuku sighed as he pulled the chair closer and slid his hand underneath the other's. He blinked. It felt so weird, but it scared him. Was it really that bad?

He took a good look at the black-haired teen before him. The teen was as pale as a vampire in those American novels he read a while back. The hand he held was smaller than his own and he couldn't believe that it was a hand of a fifteen-year-old boy. Just by looking at the other teen made it hard for him to believe that Kazuto was still alive. Although, the constant, slow beeps from the monitors reassured him in a way. Under the visor of the Nerve Gear, he caught a glimpse at Kazuto's peaceful face.

At that instant, he felt a wave of relief and sighed, letting go of all of the insecurities he had. Just seeing Kazuto somehow managed to calm his bad nervousness. For that moment, he felt like a normal person again. Placing a hand at his chest, he smiled to himself and closed his eyes, his lips forming into words, but not a sound escaped.

"If you can give me this peace, Kazuto-kun, then I'm sure, that if it's you...you'll use this heart of mine well."

He was hoping to feel Kazuto's hand twitch or something, but there was nothing. Opening his eyes, he looked at the lion with a smile.

"If I was a betting type, I'd bet that you're in there right by his side."

Suzuku reached over and patted the soft lion's head. He could imagine the cat purring under his touch. Finally reassured, he sat back and held on to Kazuto's hand a bit longer before letting go. He moved to get up but paused when he heard Asada's voice from outside.

"H-hey! Wait, He'll come out in a bit! So, please-"

The door suddenly opened and he turned in the chair to see who it was. His eyes widened as an officer walked right in. The man stopped with his face grim and his hands very still. Suzuku glanced at the hands before looking up at the officer.

"Tonomi Suzuku?" the officer asked. Suzuku stood up and placed his hands behind his back with a nod of acknowledgement. The officer seemed to be waiting for a verbal response, but Suzuku continued to stare at him.

"Errm...right. Suzuku-kun, I hate to be the one to bring bad news, but..." the officer trailed off a bit, waiting for Suzuku to say something, but another voice came in instead.

"What is it, officer?" asked Rinko as she came into the room with Asada right behind her. The officer frowned as he turned to where he could see everyone. Suzuku tilted his head in wonder, curious to what he had to say.

"...Suzuku-kun's father lost in court. He lost custody over Suzuku-kun and house will be taken under the government. Starting from December, someone from the Child Welfare Services is going to come by and take Suzuku-kun to an orphanage where he will stay until he turns eighteen. An agent from the Child Welfare Services will be coming here tomorrow to discuss things with the hospital. I am...very sorry."

Suzuku only blinked slowly as he lowered his gaze to the floor. Rinko gritted her teeth and bowed her head.

"No, don't apologize. You were only here to deliver the verdict. Thank you, sir." She said, clearly upset at the sudden news. The officer bowed once in respect and left, glancing at Suzuku for a brief moment. Asada hurried to his side and just hugged him.

First his mother and now...his father. Where could he do now? His mother was gone, taken by a blazing, accidental fire a few years back. There were no grandparents that existed anymore. He didn't even have any uncles or aunts that could possibly adopt him. He was by himself.

For a few months, his father hadn't kept up with the bills from taxes and hospitals, falling into a very big debt. It was because of the debt that his father did something so desperate: getting arrested for murdering a man for money. It was stupid, but desperate. Suzuku felt guilty about it. After all, his father tried hard to support him, but as a single parent, things just got harder. The treatment that he needed was starting to get expensive. There was no mother to care for him when his father went to work. Before his father knew it, he was out of his reach.

Suzuku wanted nothing more but to be with his father, but it was impossible now. If the Child Welfare Services stay true to their reputation, then more than likely, he'll never get to see his father again.

Once Asada released him from the hug, he looked at Rinko and placed a hand over his heart and pointed his hand toward Kazuto.

"W-what?" Rinko stammered, hardly believing her eyes. Suzuku's eyes burned with determination. It may had seemed foolish, but he knew that he wouldn't get better by how the doctors acted around him. He was dying and he knew it. His heart was perfectly healthy and he wouldn't need it if he died. If there was anything he wanted to do before he died, then it would be giving something he had to a stranger. He wanted to be a help to someone else.

Kazuto needed this heart. If there was a place to start, then it would begin with Kazuto. He just knew that Kazuto needed this heart more than he did. There were people out there that love and care for him. He often heard Rinko talk about a child who had this weird ability to make people smile when they couldn't. In the back of his mind, he couldn't help but feel like he found who Rinko was talking about.

Kazuto needed to live, and Suzuku would do whatever it took to give him what he needed most. Even if Kazuto wouldn't accept his heart, Suzuku was sure that someone would convince him to keep living.

His conviction was that strong. With the brightest smile, Suzuku placed a hand on Kazuto's arm with his hand still over his heart.

Rinko slowly placed a hand over her mouth as the sun shone right over the two teens with its bright afternoon light. To her, it was perfect, yet... heart wrenching. It was such a sight to see. The innocence of the sunlight only enhanced the silent message that it portrayed. A dying child, who just lost everything, was giving all he had left to a dying child who needed it more.

Suzuku opened his mouth, a small, soft voice cracked from the lack of use of eight years.

"I volunte-er."

Asada blinked, not understanding, but shocked all the same. She looked at Rinko who had tears streaming from her face.

"Are you sure, Suzuku?" Rinko asked him with a shaking voice. Asada couldn't help but feel a bit said as she looked at Suzuku.

The teen nodded with that smile still on his face. "Y-yes."

Rinko suddenly swept him into a tight, yet gentle hug, crying harder. Asada still didn't understand, but she placed a hand on Rinko's shoulder, giving Suzuku a questioning glance. He only smiled and mouthed, "I'll tell you later."

She gave him a look that clearly said "Don't you dare forget, then". Slowly, Suzuku managed to find a way to sit Rinko down on the chair next to Kazuto. She released him but still held his hand. He watched in silence as she reached for the other teen's hand and grasped it tenderly.

Suzuku looked over to Kazuto once more and placed his own hand on top of Rinko's.

"When you wake up, I'm sure a good friend will be there for you." he thought, "Rinko-san is also waiting for you. Don't make me wait too long, Kazuto."

Suzuku knew that Asada wouldn't understand now, but he knew she would one of these days. All he could do now was hope that Kazuto would wake up before time runs out. Feeling a tiny twinge of sadness, he watched Asada shrug her shoulders in complete confusion. She would definitely hate him for it, but she would understand.

For some odd reason, Suzuku had a feeling that Asada and Kazuto would meet each other face to face one day. He just hoped they'll become good friends.


	23. Chapter 23: The Dark Repulsor

Chapter 23: T h e D a r k R e p u l s o r

Klein groaned hopelessly as he walked into Agil's shop. Agil raised an eyebrow and watched Klein drag himself over to a chair.

"You look like all hell broke loose." Agil said rather bluntly. It was true. The usual spark in his eye had dimmed dramatically and his face was sullen. The man no longer carried himself with pride, but with weariness. Klein gave him a long, dead stare.

"It did." he deadpanned. Agil raised an eyebrow and opened up his menu. He flicked his finger up and down as he scrolled over his inventory.

"And how did that happen?" he asked casually. Klein suddenly sat up with a fire of irritation in his eye.

"The Black Swordsman, that's what! He keeps scaring me to the point where I don't know what to do anymore! Sure, he's opening up and all, but seriously, this is getting out of hand." Klein practically calmed at the end of his rant. Agil blinked in surprise at the mention of the infamous swordsman.

"You mean, Kirito?" he asked. He closed his menu and gave Klein a confused look. "Well, I heard from Argo that he's not that antisocial anymore. But, scaring people? Hardly..."

"You know what? How about I hand him over to you for a whole week?" Klein offered. Agil's confusion grew.

"Ah...Alright, it's not like anything bad is going to happen." Agil said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Oooohhh, you're going to regret those words, Agil. You're gonna regret those words..."

._._._._._._._.

"Haaaaah! It's finally good to be back!" Lisbeth said as she crossed the bridge to her shop. Asuna followed after her with a grateful smile.

"It feels even better since we got what we needed." she said. Lisbeth spun on her foot to face Asuna with a big smile on her face.

"The Crystallite Ingot!"

Just yesterday, they managed to get one by a complete and utter miracle. Bluntly put, they just ever so happened of find one near the dragon's lair...they were pretty lucky.

Lisbeth hummed cheerfully to herself as she opened her menu and unlocked her shop. Asuna couldn't help the grin they shared before opening the door.

"Kirito, we're ba--the shop!" Asuna exclaimed. Lisbeth's eyes were shadowed as they took a good look at the interior. Weapons of any kind were shattering here and there as their durability came to zero. Tens of swords were haphazardly thrown all around the store. Barrels and shelves were either tilted over or destroyed. Lances and axes covered nearly every foot of the floor.

"We were only gone for a night and half a day...AND THIS HAPPENS?!" Lisbeth cried, obviously devastated by the wreckage before her. Asuna carefully stepped over the fallen weapons and called out for Kirito.

"Oi! Kirito, where are you?" she said as she looked around. Lisbeth followed her with gritted teeth.

"How in the world could a pesky brat like him destroy a whole shop...!" she mumbled. "Come out and take my anger like a man, Kirito!"

"That probably wouldn't work, Lis." Asuna said with a sigh. She shook her head as Lisbeth continued to mutter under her breath and stopped at a seemingly barrel. She wasn't expecting anything, well, other than Shiku, but when she looked inside, she paused. "Ah. Found him."

"Really?! Where is he?" Lisbeth asked as she spun on her heel. Asuna didn't look up and pointed into the barrel. The blacksmith paused. "You're kidding."

Asuna didn't even need to answer as Lisbeth appeared at her side, peeking into the barrel, too. There, sleeping like a child, was Kirito, completely oblivious to the world.

"What in the world is he doing sleeping in a barrel?" Lisbeth asked. "Hey! Wake up! I got a bone to pick you!"

Asuna shook her head and reached in, patting Kirito's head in attempt to wake him up. "Oh, come on, Kirito. You can't sleep in there forever."

Kirito mumbled something incoherent and just leaned into Asuna's touch. The girls sweat dropped.

"So much for trying." Lisbeth mumbled. Asuna just laughed a little before looking at her with pondering eyes.

"Other than the fact that we found Kirito and the...wreckage of your shop, we still haven't found Shiku. Plus, we don't know if it was Kirito's fault if he really did wreck the shop." Asuna added as an afterthought.

"Well, you got a point there, but what in the world could cause this much damage?" Lisbeth asked her with confusion.

"Meow."

Both girls shared a short look of surprise before turning their heads to look behind them. Shiku sat on his haunches with his tail waving back and forth. There was a suspicious air of innocence around the cat-lion that made the girl share a glance.

"No way." Lisbeth stated, disbelief clear in her voice.

"That can't be." Asuna assured. They looked down at Kirito, who finally stirred. He looked up at the girls with tired eyes and a soft smile.

"Um...morning...?"

._._._._._.

Within two hours, the three managed to salvage anything that was still usable and stored it away. They cleaned up and fixed up the shelves, trying to make the place presentable again. It was pretty obvious how Kirito deliberately stayed several feet away from Shiku or ignored the cat if there wasn't much room to spare.

Once Lisbeth placed the last sword on a hook display, she turned to Kirito with her arms crossed. "Alright, I've been holding this off, so you better tell me what in the world happened while we were gone. Why'd you wreck my shop?!"

"I didn't wreck your shop. Shiku did. I stepped on his tail." Kirito said rather bluntly. Asuna stared at him.

"Eh?"

"I stepped on Shiku's tail." He repeated. Lisbeth shared a look of confusion with Asuna.

"Are you saying that a cat did this?" Lisbeth asked, putting emphasis on 'cat'. Kirito laughed timidly.

"Ahaha...ha...haaaaah..."

The said cat-lion sat on its haunches next to Lisbeth with a happy purr. The blacksmith looked down and up again at Kirito, who held up his hands and slowly backed away.

"Kirito, I'm sure Shiku wouldn't do all of this." Asuna said as she, too, crossed her arms. Kirito looked at her with wide eyes.

"He's a demon." he said with a dead serious voice. The girls were taken aback at the serious expression on his face. Lisbeth rolled her eyes and turned on her heel to her counter.

"Whatever, you're still going to pay for-" she cut herself off when she heard a crack underneath her boot. She looked up to see Kirito already halfway out the door with a shocked Asuna. Not even a split-second later, an inhuman screech made Lisbeth storm out of her shop at the last second.

Once she was a good ten feet away, she winced when she heard various thumps and smashes. She looked at Asuna with horror. The swordswoman gave a nervous laugh with a shrug as Kirito peeked his head from behind her.

"See! See?! I told you! It wasn't me!" he said. Lisbeth's face flushed in embarrassment.

"S-shut up! It's your fault for bringing that cat-thing with you in the first place!" she exclaimed. Kirito stepped away from Asuna.

"And I'm sorry! But really, you shouldn't have locked me in there in the first place!" he said, pointing at the shop.

"I wasn't the one who suggested locking up the shop!" Lisbeth defended herself. They both stopped and turned to look at Asuna. Asuna gave them a nervous grin.

"Ahahaha..." She began to slowly back away as Kirito crossed his arms while Lisbeth curled her fist.

"This is all your fault!!" Lisbeth cried. Asuna felt her eyes widen and took off.

"I'm sorry!" she apologized as she ran. Lisbeth bolted after her with furious fists, leaving Kirito behind.

"Get back here!"

"Oi, oi! Let's all be friends now!" Kirito tried as he reluctantly followed them. As stupid and pointless it may have seemed, Kirito couldn't help the grin that appeared on his face. He was just having too much fun.

._._._._._.

"I'm really sorry..." Asuna apologized for the umpteenth time. After Lisbeth's rage cooled down, the group of three returned back to the shop. Shiku was rolling on his back and flailing his paws in the air when they found him on top of the counter. The store itself was nearly cleared out as most of the few weapons Lisbeth had left shattered apart. The blacksmith swore to forever hate the small cat lion. Of course, that (somewhat) included Kirito. Lisbeth crossed her arms.

"This is both of your fault!" she accused over her shoulder. As she opened her menu to take out the Crystallite Ingot and placed it on her work table, equipping her hammer.

"Technically, this is all Shiku's fault." Kirito said as he held Shiku in his arms. After all, nobody wanted to step on the tail again.

"Meow!" Shiku licked his paw with an amused purr, almost as if he was laughing at her.

"Ugh, that's it!" Lisbeth snapped, slamming her hammer down on the ingot. "Pets are banned from my shop!"

Kirito flinched at her tone and ducked his head. "Sorry."

Asuna laughed nervously as Lisbeth hammered the poor metal with a passion. She shared a look with Kirito, who shrugged, and began to wonder if her friendship with Lisbeth was still in tacked. Kirito moved to stand next to her.

"Uhm...does this mean I'm banned here, too...?" he asked, hesitantly. His question went unanswered as Lisbeth smacked the nearly flattened metal with an unnaturally loud thunk! In that moment, a bright light enveloped the sword and formed into a shape of a sword. A few seconds later, the light faded and all that was left was a beautifully crafted whitish-green blade. Lisbeth tapped the sword and read off the little screen that popped in front of her.

"...and this is for a guy like him? Hmmm...I guess," she muttered as she glanced at Kirito. She practically forged the sword out of frustration. In all honesty, she thought the product would become something menacing, but... it turned out much better than she expected. She looked up at Kirito and blinked. The Black Swordsman wore an expression that just made all of her anger and frustration melt away...although he actually looked like he was pouting.

Lisbeth sighed and shook her head in defeat. "I don't know how you do it, but-" she sighed again when she caught Shiku nipping at Kirito's hand. "-I can't stay mad at you for very long for some reason. I'll let this pass, I guess."

"Really?" Kirito asked as he perked up. He deliberately ignored Shiku's nibbling and sighed in relief. "That's a huge relief."

Asuna silently heaved a sigh, too, as she smiled. "For a moment there, I thought Lisbeth was going to ban me, too."

The Blacksmith huffed as she crossed her arms. "Don't push your luck, I might actually do it." She went to pick up the sword and stopped. The sword was a lot heavier than she thought. A lot heavier. She looked up at Kirito and gestured to the sword.

"Well, aren't you going to try it out?" she asked him.

"Ah! Right, hold him for me." Kirito said as he handed Shiku to Asuna.

"W-what?! No! I don't want to hold him!" Asuna said as she held her hands up on defense and took a few steps back. Kirito grinned and stepped toward her with Shiku in his hands.

"Oh come on! It's just for a minute. Please, Asuna?" he asked her, but Asuna still refused him with a shake of her head.

"I said no!" she snapped. Kirito continued to hold Shiku toward her as his grin turned a bit cheeky.

"I'll buy you a whole cake when we get back to Klein." He promised. Asuna paused for a second before giving in and hesitantly taking Shiku in her arms.

"Ugh, I better get castella for this." She grumbled.

"Of course!" Kirito said. He turned away from them and reached to pick up the sword. Lisbeth's jaw fell as he picked up the sword with absolute ease. He held it in his right hand before switching to his left. Asuna watched with amazement as he gracefully swung the sword horizontally, followed by an upward diagonal slice.

Kirito paused and looked at the sword in his hand in awe. "Whoa... it almost feels like I'm holding a replica of Elucidator." He turned to look at Lisbeth with a grin on his face. "Hey, what's it called?"

"Ah! A-ah, the Dark Repulsor!" Lisbeth stumbled over her words, slightly embarrassed that she was caught staring at him. Although, Kirito was oblivious to it as he looked thoughtful.

"The Dark Repulsor...hmmm...Where have I heard that name before...?" he muttered to himself as he looked over the blade. He had to admit, it was incredibly crafted despite the fact that it was forged by a fuming Blacksmith just seconds ago. Deciding that it probably wasn't important, he pushed his curiosity to the back of his head and focused on reality (well, in game, of course).

"Thanks for the sword, Lisbeth!" he said as he sheathed the sword and gave the Blacksmith a smile. "And sorry for all of the trouble that Shiku caused. I did promise to pay for the damage..."

Lisbeth stared at him for a second before grinning. "Oh, yeah! I totally forgot about that! Are you sure you want to pay for it all? I'll even charge you for the Dark Repulsor, too, since I practically need to start from scratch."  
Kirito's smile faltered a bit as Asuna pressed her lips together.

"Uhm, I'll help with the cost, too, since it kind of is my fault..." Asuna said as she took a step forward. She was slightly nervous. In all honesty, she doubted that even with Kirito's and her Col would be enough to cover the cost of...practically everything.

"That's fine with me! As long as someone pays it." Lisbeth said with a smile as she opened her menu. A second later, Kirito and Asuna received a message. Kirito was quick to open his and paused. He just stared at it, making Asuna worry about it. Asuna had a bit of difficulty to open hers as Shiku squirmed in her arms and pawed her face. Once she did, she did a double take.

"W-what?! Hey, Lis-chan, are you sure?" she spluttered in surprise. Lisbeth just placed a hand on her hip.

"Yup, you either take it or take it." she answered bluntly. Kirito stared at her as a single thought went through his head.

'One thou-She's too cheap!'


	24. Chapter 24: The Shiku Incident

Chapter 24: T h e S h i k u I n c i d e n t

When Kirito made it back to Klein after getting his new sword, he made sure to keep his new skill a secret. To his amazement, it was just as easy done as said. None of the members questioned much on his short little ventures outside of town, and nor did they stop him, since they knew were to track him down if he wasn't 'home' before dark. Kirito found it a bit strange when Klein was walking around with a leap in his step.

He wanted to question it, but then again, Klein just might get in his case if he ruined the happy mood. He didn't realize that he should've asked anyway.

._._._._._.

"Kirito! Come on! Agil is expecting us!" Klein called as he opened the front door to head out. Kirito was in the living room messing with Shiku, who pawed his hands away from his stomach, as he looked up with a smile.

"Coming!" he called out. Shiku seemed to have understood as the cat-lion rolled onto his paws and leapt into Kirito's open arms. The teen got up from the floor and made his way to the front door where Klein was waiting impatiently. Kirito couldn't help but regard Klein with a curious look. "Why are you so antsy?"

Klein froze for a second before giving him a nervous laugh, "Ah? Ahaha! I'm not antsy."

Kirito gave him a look that clearly said "Oh, really?".

"Really." Klein assured as he avoided looking at Kirito's eyes. The teen stared at him for a moment longer before shrugging and stepping out.

"Alright, whatever you say, okaa-san." Kirito said with a roll of his eyes.

"I'm not your mother!" Klein half exclaimed as he shut the door and followed Kirito down the street. They didn't bother to lock it since the other members of Klein's guild were somewhere there. It didn't take the two long as they made it to Agil's shop. Once there, Kirito was the first to enter.

"Agil! We're here!" he announced as he walked up to the counter. The shop owner looked up at the mention of his name. He smiled and waved for them to come in.

"Hey, Kirito! Klein." He greeted from behind the counter. "Nice of you guys to drop by. How have you been lately?"

Klein threw a wave in greeting with a grin. "Oh, we've been good. There hasn't been much happening lately, so we needed something to do."

Kirito hummed in agreement as he took a seat at the single table Agil had and placed Shiku on top. Agil blinked at the cat-lion in surprise. He was never told that Kirito had a pet. "You tamed a monster, Kirito?"

"Uhm...I wouldn't say tamed..." Kirito said as he watched Shiku shake his mane. He looked over to Agil with a set frown. "It's more like he found me."

Agil blinked at this and looked at Klein to confirm it. The guild leader groaned as the memory of the day came to him suddenly. "Never mind about that! How have you been Agil?!"

Even with the sudden change of the topic, Agil decided to let it pass and answer the question. The three spent the next two hours chatting and sharing random stories about what happened recently. Of course, Agil still managed to find out how Shiku came along, but he was still completely unaware of Kirito's real predicament. Kirito and Klein had decided to keep that a secret for a while longer to lessen the trouble Kirito could potentially cause.

Before Agil (and Kirito) knew it, Klein had to leave.

"Okay! You're all set, Agil! I'll leave him in your hands for the week!" Klein said a bit too cheerfully as he patted Kirito's shoulder. Agil shook his head at the guild leader's actions and crossed his arms.

"You're acting as if he's that hard to handle, Klein." the shop owner said. The Black Swordsman gave him an odd look as he brushed off Klein's hand.

"Wait...Klein, you just told me that we were just gonna visit Agil." Kirito said as he crossed his arms.

"And I did! Just, I left out the part that Agil with take charge of you for a week. You alright with that?" Klein said with that weird smile of his. Kirito dropped Shiku in surprise.

"Mreowr!"

"Wait! You can't be serious!"

"See you in a week, Kirito! Be good to Agil!" was the last thing Klein said as he left the shop. Kirito couldn't help but stare after him in shock.

"Did Klein just...?" Kirito stopped himself from finishing and turned to face Agil. The shop owner had a concerned frown on his face with his arms still crossed. Kirito gave him a sheepish smile. "Uhm...I'll be in your care...?"

._._._._._.

Agil was surprised. There wasn't a single moment where he had any trouble with Kirito. In fact, the teen did practically everything he told him with any questions asked!

Although, it was more of...

"Kirito, can you check the inventory and tell me how many spears we have left?"

"Okay!"

"Kirito, can you stay at the counter? I need to do something up stairs."

"Yup!"

"Kirito, don't stay up too late."

"Alright!"

...It was more like Agil had a helping hand around the shop... He couldn't see what in the world made Kirito so hard to handle! The teen was so reliable that Klein's words were just unbelievable at that point. Although, he did notice how Kirito would sometimes daydream in the middle of doing something. He was pretty surprised how many times he zoned out on a customer before the said customer marched out of the shop in frustration. Then again, Kirito's willingness to help covered up those small incidents.

"Kirito, can you make this delivery for me?"

"Eh? Ah, okay. Be right back!"

It was all perfectly dandy...up until the last day; the day before Klein would come pick Kirito up.

"Ano...Kirito?" Agil asked on the seventh day as he peeked into the spare room he had upstairs. Kirito was sitting up in a chair at the small table with his head bowed, clearly falling asleep moments before. Agil would've smiled, but with the situation he had now...it couldn't wait. Sighing, he walked right into the room, hoping Kirito would wake up to the sound of his footsteps. The teen didn't even budge when Agil stopped right before the table.

"Oi, Kirito, I need your help." Agil said as he shook Kirito's shoulder. Kirito flinched and slowly woke up. His bleary eyes looked up at Agil in a daze.

"Ah...good morning...?" he muttered, barely getting registering anything. Agil frowned as he gentle patted Kirito's cheek to wake him up faster.

"It's only the afternoon, Kirito, and you need to wake up, right now. We have a pretty serious situation." he said, hoping to get Kirito moving as quick as possible. Kirito grimaced and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

"What kind of... situation...?" he asked sleepily.

"Someone is trying to buy Shiku." Agil said as bluntly as he could.

"...Oh, okay." Kirito didn't really seem to understand as he yawned and slowly stood up with Agil keeping him steady.

"I think I'll say it again...Someone is trying to buy Shiku." Agil repeated once he got Kirito steady on his feet. Kirito gave him a blank look.

"...Eh?"

Agil resisted the urge to bang his head against the wall. Exactly how long did it take to fully wake him up?! The shop owner frowned thoughtfully as he racked his brain for another way to get Kirito literally moving. Just then, an idea popped in his head. It was...a bit of a lie, but it should do the trick.

"Kirito?"

"Hm?"

"Someone bought Shiku."

There was a heavy pause as Kirito stared at him. Slowly, Agil could see the cloud of sleepiness slip away as Kirito's eyes widened in realization. In a quick flash Kirito's face fell into devastation. Immediately, Agil regretted his words.

"YOU WHAT?!" Kirito cried. Agil barely got the chance to grab him as Kirito practically flew out of the room. For a second there, Agil couldn't believe that Kirito was just standing in front of him a moment ago. Snapping out of his stupor, Agil mentally kicked himself.

"Kirito! Wait! I was joking!" the shop owner called after him as he hurried after him, but he went unheard.

Kirito nearly tripped over his feet as he stumbled down the stairs and threw himself to the counter. There, halfway out the door, was a black cloaked person with his struggling cat-lion in their arms. Immediately, he slammed his palms on the counter, startling the customer, and yelled, "Hey! You can't take Shiku!"

"Ara? So, it's true. The Black Swordsman did tame a monster." The customer said, stopping right outside and turning slightly. Kirito couldn't really see the person's face because of the graphics, but he did see a smug smirk on their face. Absently, he even took note of the scar on the right side of his face. Kirito glared at him with unease.

"Give him back right now!" he demanded. The cloaked man let out a short laugh.

"Then get him back yourself, Black Swordsman." He said. Kirito barely had the time to answer as the man slammed the door shut with a daunting laugh. Gritting his teeth, Kirito leapt over the counter and rushed to the door.

"Kirito!" Agil called as he reached downstairs. Kirito slammed open the door and spared Agil a glance before chasing after the man.

"He took Shiku!"

"What?!"

Kirito didn't stop to explain to Agil. He dashed through the streets in the general direction of the cloaked man. The area wasn't very crowded, but it wasn't really empty either, making it easy for him to spot the kidnapper. Kirito bit his lip as he took note of the cloaked man's color cursor. It was orange and that... could mean anything. Shiku was a golden blob under the man's arm, and Kirito could definitely see him scratching his captor. Those in the street either ignored them, or took a glance at Kirito with confusion.

Well, it wasn't every day that a person would see the Black Swordsman running around...

Gritting his teeth, he kept close to their tail. Kirito found it a bit difficult to keep up with them. The stabbing pain in his leg grew worse with each passing second, making him flinch every time he put a little too much force into his step. He several times he came close to touching Shiku's paw, but then the man would leap ahead or suddenly shove Kirito back.

"Give him back!" Kirito yelled once they left the town. He couldn't help but wonder just how far the man would run. Was that idiot really after Shiku? After all, he could've teleported out of town, but he didn't. In fact, that man purposely slowed down for Kirito to catch up.

"Shiku!"

The man suddenly stopped after the town was a few minutes behind; ten minutes max. He turned on his heel and threw Shiku at Kirito. The teen panicked as he practically rammed into Shiku.

"Gah!"

"Mreow!"

Kirito fell back from the force of the blow with Shiku clawing his coat. "Damn it! What was-"

He barely had the chance to finish that sentence when he caught a glimpse of steel. Immediately, Kirito grabbed Shiku and rolled away from a chop. He rolled to his feet and held Shiku in surprise. Just a few feet away, the man yanked out his abnormally large butchering knife (Well, that's what it looked like to Kirito) and grinned at the teen.

"Oho~! You're just as fast as the rumors say you are." The man stated. Kirito held Shiku a little closer and took a few steps back in caution.

"So? What do you want?" he asked keeping his gaze fixed on the man before him. Vaguely, he remembered he hadn't equipped a sword on his back. If anything...he was screwed.

"It's simple, Black Swordsman. Your life."

Kirito didn't have the chance to answer as the man came at him once more. He leapt upward to dodge the side slash and flipped in the air, landing behind him. He automatically gripped Shiku and aimed.

"Shiku! Attack!" he commanded as he threw the cat-lion at the man. Shiku bared his sharp teeth and smacked the back of the man's head. The cloaked man stumbled forward in surprise. Before Kirito could even command it, Shiku shone brightly and suddenly popped into his original size. With the extra weight on his head, the man was smushed to the ground.

Kirito took the opportunity to open his menu and equip his sword. He felt the familiar weight of Elucidator on his back a second later, just as Shiku was thrown off. This time, Kirito was prepared. The man came at him with his butcher knife, ready to kill. Kirito unsheathed his sword and blocked the attack. A gust of shock billowed around him as his sword connected to the butcher knife. He gritted his teeth as the knife glowed with a sword skill. Kirito leapt back the moment he felt the pressure against his sword lessen, narrowly avoiding a swipe to his neck.

"Why are you doing this?!" Kirito demanded as he put a distance between the man and himself. Shiku joined his side with a frustrated huff, obviously upset that he was easily shoved aside.

"Isn't it obvious?" the man asked with a readied stance. "If powerful players like you exist, then the game will end. I can't let that happen for the sake of the Laughing Coffin."

"The Laughing-The red guild!" Kirito breathed in surprise. The Laughing Coffin: the guild that kills players for fun. They kill without restraint; they kill for joy. In short, a murderous guild. Gritting his teeth, he fell into a defensive stance, wary of the next move. "But why me? Specifically me?!"

"There are rumors going around, Black Swordsman. I heard that you Beaters may have a connection with the Game Master. If you ask the GM to end the game, then it's all over." The man said. "When this game ends, then my guild can't kill anymore. They can't kill off the weak without a punishment. They can't feel the thrill of taking a life."

"So that's why? You'd kill me based on a rumor?" Kirito asked. He tightened his grip on Elucidator. "What if you were wrong and you kill me, what then?"

A grin eased its way on the man's face. "Then at least I've killed you!"

The man shot forward and activated another sword skill. Kirito narrowed his eyes a bit and active a sword skill of his own. His sword glowed a gentle green before he dashed forward. Their blades met with such a force that Shiku had to bury his claws into the ground. The skills canceled each other out, but the two didn't hesitate to pull back and strike again.

The air was soon filled with sharp clangs of metal, loud snarling, and hums of sword skill after sword skill. They fought with a strange pattern of offense and defense. Kirito found himself more on defense more than he liked. He never expected that enormous butcher knife to be such a nuisance. The man wielding the blade was a skillful dagger user. As much as Kirito hated to admit it, the man was better than Silica in so many levels.

Shiku helped him by offering support; attacking at any chance he could get. He even blocked a few fatal blows for Kirito with a swipe of his massive paw.

Kirito took a glance at his HP bar as he placed a bit of distance from the fight and grimaced. It was already half gone and he could feel nothing but the intense burn in his leg. He knew he was pushing it, but with a man after his life?

He'd rather stay alive, thank you very much!

A high pitched whimper caught his attention and he saw Shiku fly right at him. Shocked, Kirito scurried out of the way to avoid Shiku's body crashing into him.

"Shiku!" He cried, but he didn't get the chance to move to the lion. The butcher knife was quickly approaching his face. Kirito ducked down and kicked out with his right leg, knocking the man off his feet. Just then, Kirito had the perfect opportunity to finish him off with a simple stab at the chest, but he didn't take it.

"Kirito!"

The teen looked up to see Klein running toward him with a look of pure panic. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he just knew he was in big trouble.

"Never take your eyes off your enemy!"

Kirito gasped when he felt the man get up suddenly. Without realizing it, Kirito lashed out with his arm and Elucidator shoved the man back. With a cry of surprise, the man stumbled several feet back surrounded with the familiar sight of glass like particles. The man was no longer cloaked and his head was bowed, only showing his dark hair.

"Kirito!" the Black Swordsman felt a hand around his arm before he was pulled back suddenly. Klein yanked him back and brandished his sword. "Stay away from him!"

Kirito tripped over his own feet and braced himself for the fall, but was caught by strong hands. He looked up to see Agil giving him a sigh of relief.

"We made it on time..." Agil said. Kirito couldn't help but blink at him before another sight caught his eye. Asuna had a hand hovering over her sword as she glared at the Laughing Coffin member.

"Who are you?!" Asuna demanded at the man. The man didn't look up as he pulled something out of his pocket. A blue crystal gleamed in his hand as he gave a dry laugh and straightened up, not lifting his head.

"Hahaha...you win this time. But I'll get you sooner or later, Kirito. I swear it." The man said calmly before suddenly throwing his hand above his head. "Teleport: Danac!"

Everyone covered their eyes as a flash of light enveloped the man and teleported him away. Kirito gritted his teeth as he leaned heavily against Agil for support; his left leg no longer supporting him. Agil held him upright as Asuna and Klein visibly relaxed. Shiku groaned and puffed back into his small form of a cat-lion.

"What were you thinking?!" Klein asked as he turned on his heel to face Kirito. He was a bit furious but, Kirito couldn't really blame him. After all, he would do the same if he saw any of his friends attacked by an orange player.

"I can explain-" Kirito began, but Klein cut him off.

"If it weren't for Agil, then you could've been dead by now!" Klein snapped. Kirito flinched at the harsh tone. Asuna sighed and decided to let Klein handle the scolding this time as she went over to pick up a meowing Shiku. She gave him a healing potion to recover the large amount of HP missing. Kirito made a mental note to thank her later.

"I couldn't let him get away with Shiku!" Kirito said as he gestured to the cat-lion.

"You should've waited for Agil! Or better yet, you should've brought Agil with you!" Klein said as he threw an arm at the said shop owner. "Kirito, you never, ever fight a murderer by yourself! He was from the Laughing Coffin, for crying out loud!"

Kirito grimaced and bowed his head at his foolishness. It was stupid to go off on his own, and he didn't know that the person was a member of the Laughing Coffin. If he did, then he would've brought Agil with him. If only he trusted Agil more...

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen. I'll be more careful next time." Kirito promised, giving Klein an honest look of guilt. Klein opened his mouth to scold him more, but stopped. The look that Kirito had on his face was enough to squash his anger with relief. Kirito stared at Klein's lifted hand and blinked. Klein sighed and patted him on the shoulder.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have yelled at you. You were only doing what you thought was right at the time. Just, be careful next time." He said with a smile. Agil sighed heavily.

"You know what, you're harder to handle than it looks, Kirito." He said with a grimace. "I mean, everything was all fine until-"

"Wait, did you just say, 'everything was all fine'?" Asuna asked with disbelief, finally entering the conversation. Agil gave her a look of confusion.

"Well, yes. He was pretty helpful around the shop. He even took over the place while I stepped out and nothing was out of order when I came back. It was until the moment he ran after that man." He said. Klein and Asuna shared a look of shock. A stunned silence fell upon them as Agil looked at Kirito, silently asking him a question. Kirito smiled sheepishly and shrugged.

"Hey, you gave me stuff to do to keep me occupied." He said.

"You did?" Asuna asked suddenly, looking at Agil in surprise. The shop owner raised an eyebrow.

"You sound like that was something you haven't done..." Agil said as he sweat dropped. Klein groaned heavily as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Ugh! That's it! We need a vacation! All of us!" he said pacing back and forth tiredly. "I can't keep up with the stress all this is giving me..."

Kirito pushed himself off of Agil and tested his leg. He hid a cringe as a flash of pain shot up his leg, but he shifted most of his weight on his right. He placed a hand to his hip and gave Klein a nod.

"I agree! We need a break from all these crazy things happening to us." Kirito said as he looked over to Shiku, who meowed in agreement. "See? Even Shiku agreed."

Asuna sighed and petted Shiku's head. "Well, I'm not about to argue. We've been on the frontlines for far too long."

Agil crossed his arms and looked a bit thoughtful. "Hmm, if you have enough money, there's a Log House on the 22nd floor that you could buy. It's hidden in a forest with a great view of a lake."

'That's perfect! If we buy it, then we can always come back to it when we want to get away from the frontlines." Asuna said with a hint of excitement in her voice.

"That sounds great, Asuna! A perfect place to rest and recover!" Klein said with a small victory punch toward the sky. Kirito nodded, liking the idea.

"Yeah, and hopefully, it'll be a place where Shiku and I can play a few games. Agil, would you like to join us?" Kirito asked, looking up at the dark skinned man.

"Hm..."

"Consider it as a treat for watching me for a whole week." Kirito bargained.

"Done."

"Then it's settled." Asuna said as she smiled happily.

"Vacation time!" Klein cheered.

Kirito couldn't help but laugh, feeling relieved that he didn't have to fight all the time. Before he even realized it, the others joined him, starting from a grin to an audible laughter. Even Shiku was purring in delight. Kirito looked up to the ceiling above them and closed his eyes, enjoying the sound of his friends around him.

He looked down a few seconds later and reached for Shiku. "Sa, let's go?"

The others nodded as Shiku leapt into his waiting arms. Klein began to lead the way back, already discussing the plans for buying the house. Asuna walked by his side with an easy smile on her face.

"I wonder how the next few days are going to be like." She mused as she took a hand off her sword.

Kirito shrugged, "We'll see when it comes around."

"Maybe this world isn't so bad, Aki-nii." He thought to himself. "But, that doesn't mean that I'm giving up on beating this game. Just for now."


	25. Chapter 25: The Lies of a Dying Jay

Chapter 25: The Lies of a Dying Jay

"What the—you want me to take over Sato, the lazy as hell intern at the police station's shift?! But today is my day off!" said a dark haired teen into his phone. He had an irritated look on his face and it made Asada keep quiet.

"Okay, okay, fine. I'll come later though. I have to make a trip to somewhere with my sister. " he said, his voice peaking frustration. He quickly hung up by flipping his phone closed with a loud snap!

"Damn idiots." he muttering under his breath.

"Uhm...Onii-chan..." Asada began as she watched her brother shove his phone into his pocket. "Are you sure you can come with me today? I mean, I know you're—"

"Don't even start, Shi-chan. I promised that I will come today. Besides, I'm not only your brother; I'm Suzu's, too." her brother said, quickly cutting her off. A small ghost of a smile appeared on his face as he placed a hand on her shoulder. Gently, he began to lead her toward the doors of the hospital. Asada didn't flinch at the touch of her brother, instead feeling absolutely at ease. Once she entered the hospital, she suddenly perked up.

"Nee, Onii-chan…do you know someone named Kirigaya?" she asked.

"Kirigaya...?" Asada's brother asked under his breath as he placed a hand on his chin. Asada walked slowly by his side down the white hall. A few seconds later, he looked up with his dark eyes. "I think I heard of that name somewhere... but I could be wrong. Is that person a patient here?"

Asada frowned as they stopped in front of Suzuku's room. "...yeah. I don't like him."

Her brother's hand paused over the handle of the door. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Wow. A guy you mention once and you already hate him." He didn't give her a chance to answer as he threw open the door without a care. "Oi~! Suzuku, I came to visit this time-Ara, we're screwed. Where'd he go?"

"E-eh?!"

._._._._._.

Her steps echoed off the walls as Suguha made her way to her brother's room. She just finished school and her practice was canceled. She could've gone home to do her homework, but she didn't want to go home yet. It didn't take her long to find Kazuto's room.

She reached to open the door, but then her hand paused. The door was already partially open. Curiosity made Suguha peek her head in first, wondering if Rinko was already there, or if someone just forgot to close the door on their way out. To her surprise, it was none of the above.

An unfamiliar brown haired teen sat on a chair next to Kazuto. He was leaning over, poking at the lion stuffed animal with a dry-erase marker in boredom. Suguha couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed at him for treating the lion carelessly. Deciding to be polite, she fully opened the door and entered the room.

"Um...who are you?" Suguha asked as she stared right into the teen's dark grey eyes. He smiled and lifted up a white board with his name already written on it. Sugu gave him an odd look before fully entering the room and closing the door behind her. "Tonomi...Suzuku?"

Suzuku gave her a small wave of acknowledgement. He stood up and gave a short bow of respect.

"What are you doing here?" Suguha asked. Without really thinking, Suzuku's hands automatically moved to answer. Immediately, Suguha recognized the signs he made.

/"Nothing. I needed to walk around a bit, so I just came here."/ he signed. /"How are you—"/

He suddenly froze as if he realized something. Suguha couldn't help but watch him as he picked up his white board and uncapped the marker, writing his answer. As he wrote, Suguha cleared her throat and used her free hand to answer him.

/"I'm fine, thank you for asking."/ she signed effortlessly. Suzuku seemed to have noticed since his hand stopped writing. His dark grey eyes were wide with surprise. He practically tossed the board and marker back on the chair.

/"You understand sign language?!"/ he asked her, his hands moving a bit frantically. Suguha nodded as she placed her bag on another chair nearby.

/"Of course, I do. I had to if I wanted to understand my brother."/ she signed. Suzuku's face lit up happily.

/"You're Kirigaya's sister?"/ he asked. Suguha nodded.

"Well…yes, I am. I'm Kirigaya Suguha." she said out loud. She didn't miss Suzuku's look of confusion as she continued. "Seriously, what are you doing here? I don't even know you and I know for a fact that Onii-chan doesn't know someone like you."

Suzuku blinked for a moment before turning his gaze toward Kazuto. Suguha didn't resist the urge to follow his gaze. It still pained her to see her brother like that, but it brought her a bit of comfort that he was still breathing. Suzuku lifted his hands once again and keep his eyes away from Suguha.

"I heard that there was someone in this hospital that needed a heart. It made me kinda curious, and that's what lead me here." he signed, completely aware of Suguha watching him. /"I found his name kinda interesting, and…"/ his hands paused for a moment. /"I really wanted to meet him. So, here I am."/

"You're here because you heard about Onii-chan?" Suguha asked. He nodded and placed a hand over his heart and gesturing to Kazuto.

/"Now, I made up my mind. I'm going to give him one."/ he signed. Suguha stared at him with wide eyes.

"What?" she breathed out in surprise. She gently grabbed his arm and pulled him a bit closer. "You don't even know him!"

Suzuku just smiled at her as she shook her head vehemently.

"You shouldn't do that! You're giving your life away. You're the same age as me aren't you? Besides, Onii-chan doesn't want that! He doesn't want to take someone else's life so he could live his!" Suguha said with a panicked voice. Suzuku blinked at her in slight surprise before his face softened. He gently place a hand on her arm and pulled her away from his arm. As he signed, his mouth moved with his hands.

/"I don't have much time. One day, I might not wake up. My heart is completely healthy and I would feel better if Kirigaya-san has it."/ he signed with a smile on his face. /"Besides, there isn't anyone waiting for me outside this place."/

Suguha couldn't believe him. That had to be a lie. There probably was someone waiting for him! Maybe he just never realized it yet.

"But—!" Suguha couldn't finish as he cut her off with a stern look. Realization kind of…dawned on her. "…You were waiting for me. You were waiting for someone related to Onii-chan, weren't you?"

He gave her a simple nod.

"…You wanted to tell us yourself." Suguha confirmed. Suzuku simply shrugged, as if to say, "If that's what you think."

Suguha stared at him in disbelief. "You don't even know us and yet you're willing to throw away your life to save Onii-chan?"

/"It's what I want."/ Suzuku signed with a smile. Suguha didn't say anything as he picked up the white board and the marker and held it close to his chest. He silently bowed his head, excusing himself. He raised his free hand one last time. /"I will see you around, Kirigaya-san."/

As Suguha watched him walk toward the door, she felt that she couldn't let him go like that. That teen was going to die for her brother willingly! She much as she wanted someone to save her brother, she didn't want him too. Right before he could walk out the now open door, Suguha called out to him.

"Wait, Suzuku-san!"

Suzuku stopped right outside the door, but he didn't turn around. Suguha paused for a moment in surprise. She wasn't really expecting him to stop. Shaking her head, she held a fist at her chest and took a step forward.

"This may sound desperate, but I'm sure, there is someone still out there waiting for you to get out of here. Please, you shouldn't leave them behind." she said. Suguha looked up to see Suzuku giving her a look. She gasped slightly when she caught the pain behind his eyes. Slowly, Suzuku's lips moved. Immediately, Suguha easily read them, since she had gotten used to it with Kazuto.

/"There is no one."/

Suguha was stunned to silence. How could that be possible? There should be at least one person in his life that would miss him.

He turned away, closing the door behind him. After a few seconds, Suguha sighed and plopped herself in the closest chair, burying her face in her hands. She wasn't saying all of that because she didn't want he brother to be saved (Trust her, she wanted her brother to live), but rather, in fear of Suzuku making the wrong decision. After all, to her, she would rather find a way to save her brother without taking another's live.

"You're wrong, Suzuku." Suguha muttered. Droplets of water started to slip past her fingers. "There will always be someone waiting for you."

._._._._._.

Suzuku felt a bit bad. He didn't expect Suguha to try and convince him not to. He could kind of understand. After all, why give away something vital to living? In all honesty, Suzuku didn't want to die, but there wasn't much he could do about it. He didn't have enough money to get everything he needed. Of course, he wasn't going to make the government pay for him.

He stopped in front of his door to his own room and stared at it. He blinked as he heard faint voices on the other side. Curious, he placed on ear on the door and listened.

"AHH! Scary-nii-chan! Give it back!"

"I'm not Scary, damnit!"

"Yes, you are! Just stop it!"

There was a jingle of keys.

"Eh? Isn't that anime character Kaito or something like that?"

"D-don't look at it! Give it back!"

"Ah~! I even found the teal-haired chick!"

"Scary-nii!"

Suzuku pulled his ear away from the door and shook his head. He didn't even bother to knock as he opened the door. He froze at the sight before him with his jaw dropping. A flustered Asada faltered at the sight of him. She was standing on a chair and had a hand reaching for the keychain in her brother's hand. Her black haired brother blinked several times as he looked over his shoulder with his hand still clutching a set of keys high in the air. Immediately, Suzuku's eyes went straight to the key chain.

True to Asada's brother's word, he spotted a chibi version of a blue haired anime boy holding ice cream and a teal haired girl holding a pair of leeks.

There was a long silence as they all started at each other in shock. Suzuku was the first to snap out of it as he slid the door closed. He blinked and turned on his heel to head away from his room, mouthing to himself, /"They aren't anime characters…"/.

He barely took two steps as the door suddenly opened again. Asada's brother stopped him with a light pat on the head. "Sorry, sorry! That was dumb."

Suzuku turned around to give him the "ya think?!" look. The older teen just shrugged his shoulders carelessly and ushered him back into the room. "Saa, saa! Back inside you go. Where did you disappear to anyway?"

Once they entered the room, Shino was already stuffing her keys in her bag in embarrassment muttering under her breath, "They're not anime characters they're Vocaloids! There's a difference..."

She looked up and brightened a bit. "Ah! Suzu, we got a bit worried when you weren't in your room earlier."

Suzuku shrugged his shoulders with a smile.

/"Nothing. I just took a walk."/ he signed. He didn't miss the look of doubt on Shino's face, be he ignored it. Her brother (or better known as "Scary-nii" by Shino) didn't seem to notice as the older teen dragged him to bed with normal scowl he had on his face. If someone were to ask Suzuku, he'd say that the older teen was born with that face. He wasn't scary, he was just…well…mature…?

Asada came to help her brother with settling Suzuku back into the bed. It didn't take them long. It was only about a minute or two later when Asada's brother pulled up a chair on one side of the bed. The older teen sat down while Shino sat on the other side.

They always did this. Whenever Shino's brother came to visit, they would gather close and begin to just randomly talk about things; may it be serious or utterly stupid. Suzuku lifted his hands and started up their normal routine.

/"Onii-san, you should be a singer."/ he signed. Scary suddenly spluttered while Shino coughed into her hand, trying hard to hide a laugh.

"What the—?! I will not! I'm not about to embarrass myself with singing romance crap and things! Ugh, why did we even start with this topic?!" he half-cried, remembering to keep his voice down. They were, after all, in a hospital.

"Well, you can't deny that you can sing." Suzuku teased. Scary bit his lip and turned his head away.

"There is no way in hell am I singing for a career." he muttered. Shino laughed and shook her head.

"Well, it can't hurt to try it. I mean, it is a safer job than being a police man." she said, shrugging her shoulders a bit.

/"I want to hear you sing."/

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

Suzuku and Shino shared a look before nodding. They both turned to look at the older teen and did their famous look. Suzuku clapped his hands together and tilted his head a bit while Shino clapped her hands and tilted her head.

"Scary-nii-chan, please? Just one song."

Shino's brother tried not to look at them by turning his head away and crossing his arms. "Absolutely not!"

Suzuku clapped his hands once more, knowing that the other teen had a bad habit. Before he even realized it, Scary turned his head and froze.

"Aaah! Damn it all! Fine." he said, giving in to the two. Suzuku grinned triumphantly as Shino cheered.

"Yes!"

"But I get to choose!"

"Eh? But, Scary-nii, I want to pick it. You might end up singing an unpleasant song."

"I-I don't sing crap like that!"

Suzuku smiled as he watched the two siblings bicker back and forth. As dumb as it seemed, it was normal for the two. Ever since they were small, they still argued pointlessly, despite the fear that Shino developed when she was younger. Both boys knew she was afraid of men and boys alike, but she was completely fine with them. Suzuku knew that she was here to give him a bit of company, even though it was kind of out of her way. In a way, he figured she was trying to find a way to get rid of her fear.

But then again, Suzuku stopped to ask himself. Did they really just come here for themselves? Or did they come for a completely different reason? He took a look at Scary's face flushed in embarrassment and annoyance and Shino's teasing smile. He couldn't help but smirk a little at Scary. For a short moment, he turned away from them and closed his eyes for a moment.

/"You're right, Kirigaya-san. I do have people waiting for me, and I'm not about to deny that...Sorry."/


	26. Chapter 26: The Morning Dew Children

Chapter 26: The Morning Dew Children

The sun filtered through the forest canopy above them, landing softly on a pair of children. A white-haired boy leaned against a tree with his head bowed in slumber. He wore a simple silver-grey jacket with a dark blue shirt underneath. His black shorts reached right before his knees with matching boots covering a majority of his legs. Attached to his side was a short sword.

Next to him was a long, black-haired girl resting her head on his own. Her white summer dress seemed to glow in the sunlight. Her feet were bare and there wasn't a single weapon on her. Slowly, her companion stirred, blinking his bright blue eyes. The child lifted his head as he took a look around, trying to remember just what he was doing there.

"…Oh, no…did we fall asleep...?" he asked himself. He heard a small groan as the girl began to wake up, rubbing her dark eyes to wake herself up.

"…Good Morning, Mor'gan." Yui replied as she stretched. The boy, Mor'gan, gave her a bright smile, suddenly wide awake.

"Morning, Yui!" he greeted cheerfully. He leapt up to his feet and dusted himself off. He held out a hand for Yui to take. She took it without a second thought and stretched again.

"Whaaaaaa~!" she said as she yawned. She dropped her hands and smiled at Mor'gan. "What are we going to do today?"

Mor'gan placed a thoughtful hand to his lips before offering a bright smile. "Whatever comes to mind!"

._._._._._.

The sun was nice and warm on Kirito's skin as he enjoyed his little venture around their new vacation home. They just arrived yesterday and Agil managed to convince Klein that Kirito would be alright on his own. After all, the twenty-second floor of Aincrad wasn't that dangerous at all.

Kirito spent half of the morning by the lake, messing around with the water and giving Shiku a good dunk in the water. He was surprised that Shiku couldn't drown. The cat-lion would hold his own head under for ever ten minutes before poking his nose for a quick breath. Kirito figured that it had something to do with the Cardinal system. After all, there had to be a few strange things around here.

Shiku bounded in and out of Kirito's feet as he took a stroll in the forest. Kirito laughed every time he felt Shiku's soft fur brush against his ankles. If anyone were to see him at first glance, nobody would even notice that he was the Black Swordsman. In fact, he just seemed like a normal child…if it wasn't for Elucidator strapped to his back. Kirito was wearing a plain black shirt and a pair of pants, knowing that there wasn't a very strong need to be completely armed. Just his sword should suffice.

"Go and play, young children," Kirito sang as he swung a tree branch he found. "Grown up big and strong, Grandpa Sakura will always be watching over you~!"

Shiku practically danced around the ground with his tiny body as Kirito sang. It felt a bit strange since he couldn't sing in reality, so he decided not to let the moment pass him by. Surprisingly, his voice was pleasant. Well, to him. But, in reality, is was more than pleasant. It was soft and gentle, with a hint of tenderness. His voice held the purity of a child untouched of the reality of the world; something a bit unnatural for a kid his age. It could practically sweep someone off their feet and into another world without them even realizing it.

When he was younger, he always heard an old man sing the same song once everyday. Of course, he heard the old man sing other songs, but there was always one that stuck to Kirito.

So, he sang. He sang about being an old sakura tree. A tree that watched children grown up and gone through a war. He was almost at the end of the song when he heard soft cry of surprise.

Kirito cut himself off and looked in the general direction of the cry. Shiku shared a glance with him before taking off.

"Hey! Shiku!" Kirito cried as he chased after his cat-lion, abandoning his tree branch on the path. He didn't have to go far as he accidentally ran into something less than a minute later. He actually trampled over the small figure.

"Whoooaaah! Get off me!" cried a childish voice underneath Kirito.

"Ah! Sorry!" Kirito apologized as he scrambled to his feet. A small, white haired child was shaking his head as he tried to get his bearings. Kirito held out a hand to the small boy, "Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah…" the boy said as he took Kirito's hand. Once the boy was settled back on his own two feet, Kirito took a good look at him. The boy looked as if he was an actual player and not some random NPC. His bright blue eyes stared up at Kirito with surprise.

"Are you okay?!" said a girl's voice. Kirito watched as the boy fast walked to a black haired girl dressed in white. The girl was a bit flustered when she came out from behind a tree.

"Who are you? Is there anyone watching over you two?" Kirito asked as he placed a hand at his hip. Shiku mewed softly as he trotted up to the two children before him. The black haired girl squatted down to pet the cat-lion with a look of awe while white-haired boy tilted his head slightly.

"Uhm…I'm…I'm Morgan." the boy said with a hand at his chest. He then gestured to the girl, "And she's Yui…You're not one of those people that take care of kids in the Town of Beginnings…are you?"

"Town of…no, I'm not." Kirito said as he shook his head. "I'm Kirito. My friends and I are taking a break around the area. What about you two?"

"Ah…Well…" Morgan began, but he looked down. The little girl, Yui, picked up Shiku in her arms and smiled at Kirito.

"We're lost!" she said cheerfully. Both boys stumbled at her exclamation.

"Yui! We're not lost! We're um…we're…" Morgan trailed off again, completely at a loss of what to say.

"Lost." Kirito finished for him.

"Okay, okay….We got lost while playing a game, but we're not with the kids that live on the first floor." Morgan admitted as he rubbed his arm in nervousness. "You're not gonna send us there, are you…?"

"You don't want to?" Kazuto asked as he crossed his arms in concern. "Did they do something bad?"

"Kito." Yui said suddenly. Both boys turned to look at her as she trotted to Kirito's side with Shiku inner arms.

"Kito…?"

"Name…Cat's name?" she asked innocently. Kirito blinked once before smiling.

"Ah, he's Shiku." he told her as he petted Shiku's miniature, fluffy head. Yui's eyes lit up as if it was Christmas and hugged Shiku tighter.

"Shiu?" she asked with a cute tilt of her head.

"Eh?"

"No, Yui, it's Ski-ku." Mor'gan corrected lightly as he placed his hands on his hip. Yui gave him a slightly confused look as she continued to hug Shiku.

"Shii-u?" she tried again.

"Shii-kuuu." Morgan said as he drawled out his voice. Her face slipped into concentration as she tried once again.

"Shii-uuu!"

"….I don't think that's working, Morgan." Kirito said as he watched Morgan try to correct her once again. He couldn't help but think that Morgan and Yui were like siblings. Morgan acted like the older brother; always trying his hardest to be a good role model-ish. Yui was like the clueless, cute little sister that anyone could love.

"Shiiiii-uuuu!" Yui tried once again, causing Morgan to drop his shoulders in defeat.

"Haaah… I tried." he sighed as Yui placed Shiku on the ground. Shiku practically bounded around her and mewed playfully. For some odd reason, Kirito couldn't help but notice something familiar about her. He could've swore he met her before somewhere….but where?

"Hey, why don't we play a game?" Kirito asked as he placed a hand on his hip. For some odd reason, a weird, but fun idea popped in his head. If Morgan didn't want to go to the bottom of Aincrad, then…

Morgan gave him a blatant look. "But Yui and I just played a game of cops and robbers…"

"What about Oni? It should be fun." Kirito suggested with a smile. Yui perked up and hopped up and down in excitement.

"I do, I do!" Strangely enough, Shiku was meowing with her. Morgan looked a bit thoughtful, but he didn't really get the time to actually think as Yui pulled nicely at his sleeve. "Please, Mor'gan?"

"Mor'gan?" Kirito repeated. The expression on Morgan's face was a mixture of caution and wanting as Yui gave him a pair of puppy-like eyes.

"W-well…"

"Pleeeaaase?"

"Meow!"

Kirito couldn't help but laugh lightly as Morgan gave up with a sigh.

"Okay, fine…" Morgan said as a smile began to form on his face. Kirito could tell that the boy really did want to play. "We'll go play with Kirito-nii-san."

"Alrighty then! The rules are simple. You have to catch me and make me an Oni, okay?" Kirito said with a grin.

"Wait, what? Who's the Oni—" Morgan didn't even have the chance to finish when Kirito suddenly tapped his shoulder.

"You are!" He said. He didn't even stop as he practically swept Yui in his arms and took off with Shiku scampering after him. Morgan stood there for a moment before realization slapped him in the face.

"You just kidnapped Yui!" he cried as he hurried after Kirito, completely upset at the fact that the older boy ran off with her. All he had to go off of was Kirito's laughter mixed with Yui's. Morgan mentally sighed, but didn't dare to stop the smile on his face. Might as well make the best of it!

._._._._._.

Asuna was sitting on the couch, just going through her inventory when she heard laughter outside. Agil was busy sending a message when he, too, looked up.

"What's going on out there?" he asked Asuna. The swordswoman shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm not sure…Here, I'll go take a look." she said as she dismissed her menu and stood up. She was only wearing a simple cream-colored sweater and a pale red skirt with knee high socks. Her feet were covered with a simple pair of flats. She debated whether or not to equip her rapier, but with the sounds of children playing outside, she decided not to. "Be right back!"

When she stepped outside, she was expecting to see a random group of kids playing around, but…She never expected to see a familiar black-haired teen running around with kids. He had a white-haired child chasing after him and a small girl riding on the back of a full-sized Shiku. Asuna stepped off the porch and stopped a few feet away from the house. Elucidator was lying innocently on the ground and she quickly came to a conclusion.

"Kirito!" Asuna called as she cupped her hand around her mouth. Kirito instinctively stopped and looked in Asuna's direction with a slightly startled expression. Asuna was about to say more until—

"Ye—GAH!"

Asuna watched with a slightly opened mouth as Kirito was practically tackled down by Shiku, the little girl laughing as the lion did so. The white-haired boy skidded to a stop and wrapped his arms around Shiku's neck, who growled contently.

"Good job, Shiku! You caught the demon!" the boy praised. Asuna couldn't help but falter a little before strolling over to them. The little girl immediately noticed her and ran over to Asuna. The swordswoman was shocked as the girl wrapped her arms around her waist and looked up to her with delight clear on her face.

"Mama!"

"Ma—Mama?!" Asuna repeated in shock. "I'm not your mama!"

"Ah! I'm sorry, Onee-san! Yui doesn't mean it!" the boy said as he unlatched himself from Shiku. The lion shook his head as Kirito managed to pulled himself halfway out from under Shiku.

"Kirito, whose kids are these?!" Asuna demanded as she instinctively placed a gentle hand on the girl's shoulders. Kirito had a pained look on his face as he forced a smile.

"Can you get Shiku off of me first?" he asked, throwing a thumb back at the said lion. Shiku purred as helices Kirito's back, efficiently grossing the black swordsman. "Ew! Gross! Get off me!"

The boy seemed to shake his head in amusement as he went over to rub Shiku's face. "Good Shiku! You can get off of Onii-san now."

The lion, to Asuna's surprise, actually complied to the boy's request and puffed back into his shrunken form. Kirito was wincing as he slowly brought his legs underneath him to get up.

"Thanks, Morgan." Kirito said as the boy helped him up. Asuna felt Yui release her, but the girl caught her hand and clung to her. She couldn't help but feel a little weirded out by the fact that this girl was so attached to her.

"Hi, Asuna." Kirito greeted with a tired smile. "Is Agil and Klein inside?"

"Yeah, but first, who are these kids?" Asuna asked once again, looking between the boy and the girl. She could tell that the boy was a player since she could see his green cursor over his head, but the girl…she didn't have one.

"Ah, right! Asuna, this is Morgan," Kirito said as he gestured the boy. She found it a bit strange that the boy held Kirito's hand as he kind of hid behind him. Kirito didn't seem to mind as he gestured the girl holding her hand. "And, that's Yui. I found them while I was talking a walk in the forest."

He then addressed the children, "Morgan, Yui, this is Asuna, my best friend."

"Mama!" the girl, Yui, called her again. Asuna looked at her and knelt down to her height.

"Uhm, Yui, I'm not your Mama…" she said with an uneasy smile.

"Sorry, I don't think she means it..." the boy, Morgan, said, looking a bit nervous. Yui shook her head and pointed to Kirito.

"But, Kito's Papa and Mor;gan's my brother!" she said confidently. Kirito actually spluttered in surprise as Mor'gan faltered.

"W-wait a minute, Yui, Kirito-nii's not our dad! That's just weird!" Morgan said as he stepped away from Kirito, letting go of his hand.

"Where are their parents? Are they trapped in here by themselves?" Asuna asked as she looked to Kirito. The Black Swordsman shrugged.

"Well…" he began, but Morgan cut him off.

"I'm Yui's brother! Mama and papa…they're not here." the boy said, hesitantly. "We've been living around this floor since it was cleared. I'm really sorry, Asuna-nee-san. Yui and I can go if you want us…"

Asuna sighed as Yui shook her head and tightened her grip around her hand. She knelt down and caressed Yui's cheek with her free hand.

"Ano, Yui, I'm not your mom," she began. Yui's eyes formed a few tears and Asuna panicked slightly. "B-but! You can call me that if you want to. I wouldn't mind. I don't mind at all! But only until we find your real mama, okay?"

"Really?!" Yui asked as her eyes suddenly lit up. Asuna nodded assuredly, vaguely realizing what she had done. Bluntly put, she just became a mother. But to what, she didn't know. There wasn't a cursor over the head and neither of the boys seemed to have noticed. She looked up at Kirito who smiled.

"Besides, I can't let you kids run around here without a place to stay." Asuna said with a smile.

"Well, if Asuna says so, I guess it's okay…" Kirito said as he placed a hand on his hip. Morgan gaped at them all.

"You mean it?!"

The two teens only smiled at him, silently giving him an answer.

"I'm so glad! I have a mama again!" Yui cheered as she practically hugged Asuna. Asuna couldn't help but laugh and hug her back. Even though the girl was just as strange and bit more weird that Kirito, she figured that she could handle it somehow.

Yui pulled away from Asuna and hugged Kirito with her small arms. "And I have a Papa, too!"

Kirito laughed as he patted her head gently. "By the way, Yui, Morgan?"

"Hm?"

"Yes, Papa?"

"Why us? Why did you decide to call us your parents?" Kirito couldn't help but ask. Morgan stared at him for a moment before blinking.

"Ah…that's a…very good question. I don't know myself. I just follow my sister." Morgan said with his eyes slightly wide with hints of confusion and uncertainty. But, Yui, on the other hand, looked up at Kirito with a childish giggle.

"Papa, that's funny!" she said cheerily, thoroughly confusing the others. For some odd reason, Kirito felt a growing sense of dread as Yui stared at him with her dark eyes.

"Because you're Cardinal's son!"

._._._._._.

SYSTEM COLABORATION AT FIFTY-NINE PERCENT.


	27. The Memories He Forgotten

Chapter 27: The Memories He Forgotten

_"Kazuto-kun?" called a voice. A small black haired child with a weird cat-lion stuffy at his side, looked up from his book to see a familiar sight. Immediately, Kazuto's face lit up with a smile and the book dropped out of his hands, reaching out to the teenager. Kayaba Akihiko walked into the boy's room and gently took the hands into his own, smiling at him. Kazuto's mouth easily formed words, but not a sound left his lips._

_Although it stabbed Kayaba's heart, he read the lips with relative ease with years of practice and answered. "No, no, Kazuto-kun, I didn't skip work, I promise."_

_Kazuto gave him a look that said "Oh really?"_

_Kayaba couldn't help the laugh that left him as he patted Kazuto's head. "Yes, really. Say, Kazuto-kun? Would you like to accompany me?"_

_The small boy tilted his head, silently questioning him. Even though he was at a very young age of eleven, his eyes were older than his years._

_Kayaba smiled as he ran a hand through Kazuto's natural soft hair. "There's someone I want you to meet. I'm sure, you'll like them."_

._._._._._.

For once in his time in game, Klein thought that he finally got what he deserved.

A break.

But...that was not to be.

Not.

At.

All.

._._._._._.

"Y-yo-you're a-a-a what?!" Klein stammered as he pointed a shaking finger at the two teenagers.

"Well, you see...Morgan and Yui are just kids that were by themselves." Kirito said, shyly, looking like a kick puppy from his seat at the dinning table. "They didn't want to go to the first floor, so I...I played with them to give them some company..."

"And Yui started calling us their parents..." Asuna continued, trailing off as she slowly directed her gaze downward, feeling a bit ashamed of her actions. "We couldn't just let them be alone so..."

Kirito and Asuna shared a look of dread as Klein suddenly switched gears. "YOU DO THAT AFTER MARRIAGE!"

"We aren't married!" Asuna defended.

"They're just kids!" Kirito added, "They just probably miss their parents! What's wrong with helping them a bit?"

"Kirito, that isn't helping!"

"Then you explain it!"

"I don't know how!"

"Okay, okay! At least tell me this: just what, exactly, are you going to do with those children?" Klein asked, hoping to stop their...argument, if that was what one would call it. It was pretty effective as the two teens clamped their mouths shut and shared a look.

"Well?" Klein prompted, trying to get an answer out of them both. There was still no answer as Kirito hopelessly shrugged his shoulders. Klein sighed as he face palmed. Just what were they going to do now? They were only here for vacation and nothing more!

"Uhm...Well, why don't we go and see if we can find someone who knows them on the first floor?" Asuna asked. "They could have a family in SAO too."

Kirito blinked. "I'm not sure if that's a good idea..." he said as he placed a fist in front of his mouth.

"Why not? That's our only option." Klein insisted.

"...But Morgan..." Kirito began, but cut himself off as Asuna patted his shoulder.

"I'm sure he'll be fine with it, Kirito." she assured.

"...Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you." Kirito sighed, falling back into his chair. Asuna and Klein shared a look of confusion before shrugging.

Oh, how they wished they followed Kirito's advice.

._._._._._.

"No."

"Morgan-" Asuna began.

"I refuse to go."

"Will you just-" Klein tried.

"You can't make me!"

"It'll only be a-" Agil attempted.

"I said I don't wanna go!"

"Ah..." Kirito was at a loss of what to say when every looked at him in hopes of getting Morgan to listen.

"Papa! Don't make me go there!" said Morgan as he ran over to Kirito. The said teen only had a second to react as Morgan leapt at him.

"Wait! Morgan, no!" Kirito yelped as the boy crashed into his waist. Morgan's grip around his waist was tight as they collided with the floor. Kirito didn't even hold back a curse as he felt a sharp pain shoot through his leg.

"I absolutely refuse to go!" Morgan said in Kirito's shirt. The Black Swordsman heaved a painful sigh as he sat upright with the boy around his waist.

"Morgan-Just...just one hour." Kirito muttered through gritted teeth. "Give us one hour to look around and them we can come back here okay?"

Morgan was silent for a moment, but didn't lift his head as he answered. "...No more than one hour."

"One hour. I promise." Kirito said with a sigh, running a comforting hand through white hair. He felt sorry for the child. Morgan was stuck in this death game at such a young age. Kirito felt guilty, knowing that he was partially at fault for the children's predicament. Heck, he was at fault for everyone's imprisonment!

Frowning, Kirito couldn't help but feel a bit of nostalgia as he recalled doing the same action for his sister in the real world. For a moment, be wondered if he'd ever be able to run his hand through his sister's hair again just to comfort her. At the rate that he was going...

He probably never would.

"Well, we should've just let Kirito do all the work." Asuna said as she sighed and placed both her hands on her hips. Klein scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah, no kidding..."

Agil looked over to Yui as she picked up Shiku. "At least we had an easier time with Yui..."

"Papa, are we going out?" Yui asked as she plopped right next to him with a purring Shiku in her arms. Kirito gave her a smile and a gentle pat on the head with his free hand.

"Just for a little. Your brother is a bit stubborn though." he said. Morgan finally looked up and frowned, hiding a bit of fear being his eyes.

"That's because I don't want to go." "Nevertheless, you still agreed to one hour." Agil said as he placed a hand on his hip as he looked over them. "You know, Kirito, from this point of view, you really do look like their dad."

Yui suddenly brightened. "Papa is Papa! And Mama is Mama!"

Both Kirito and Asuna shared a look before turning away, their faces slightly red as they flushed in embarrassment. Morgan got up, softly apologizing as Kirito slowly stood up, making sure not to aggravate his leg so much.

"So, when do we leave?" Kirito asked.

"Well, we can leave now, but I don't think you guys should go unarmed." Agil advised. "The army does control the whole floor."

Asuna nodded as she dropped her hands. "Right. You'll never know what they might do."

"Should we split up into two groups or three? We can broaden the search that way and make the most of the hour we have with Morgan." Klein suggested. Kirito hummed in agreement.

"Yeah...that's a good idea. Let's split into three. Asuna, do you think you can take Yui? I'll take Morgan, if that's alright." he said, sparing a glance at Morgan.

"But I wanna go with Papa!" Yui said, clutching the edge of Kirito's shirt.

"Or...you can take Morgan, if you're fine with that." Kirito said as he lightly touched Yui's back when she leaned closer. Asuna laughed a little.

"I can take Morgan. You okay with that?" she asked, looking at Morgan. The white haired boy had slight smile on his face as he nodded.

"Y-yeah." he assured. "It's Mama, so I'm fine...I think."

"I guess it's just me and you, Agil." Klein said patting the much taller man's shoulder. "After an hour, Klein and I will send you a message if we get anything or not. We'll keep searching a bit longer than an hour." Agil said. Kirito nodded as their plan was set.

"Alright." Kirito said. He looked at Yui and Shiku. "Ready to go?"

"Yes!" Yui said happily. Before Kirito could say anything, Yui hurried out of the living room and out the door.

"Yu-Wait!" Kirito called after her. He looked to his friends and gave them a quick nod as he ran after Yui. "I'll see you in an hour!"

"Be careful!" said Asuna. She couldn't help but feel a little worried about Kirito by himself. Would he really be alright with Yui?

"Don't worry, Asuna." came Klein's voice. "Kirito's strong enough to survive on his own. He did solo several floors already."

The others looked over to Morgan, expecting a response of awe or surprise, but they were wrong. Morgan held his elbows and frowned. His eyes were clear and his body was completely serious, nothing like the childish personality he displayed earlier. His next words shocked them.

"And that would probably be the death of him. He may not last long."

They were stunned into silence. Did Morgan really not believe that Kirito would not live through this death game? No, he had to! Kirito had to live!

And yet...Morgan's words held reality. There was no false hope, no beating around the bush. Just...the reality; the one possibility they were all avoiding.

One they did not want to believe.

But then, all the signs were there. Kirito seemed exhausted with each passing day. Shiku never left his side in the mornings he would sleep in. There was a slight limp in Kirito's form when he walked, and his smiles seemed a bit forced. During their time getting this house, he took more naps than Klein could keep track of. Sometimes, Kirito never noticed their calls to him until several minutes later.

Asuna bit her lip while Agil and Klein's expressions darkened.

Without realizing it, Morgan had reminded them just how short time was for their friend. He brought them reality.

**_They needed to beat this game._ **

._._._._._.

Kirito was walking down the streets of the Town of Beginnings with Yui holding his hand happily, asking anyone if they had seen the girl before. But, everyone he encountered said that they had never seen the girl before. Kirito began to doubt that she was actually from here. Or even a player at all. She had no cursor over her head and she knew about the Cardinal system enough to call Kirito its son.

It was impossible. There was no way he could be Cardinal's son. Yes, he knew a majority of the system like the back of his hand, but that wouldn't count as a reason why. Was it a glitch in the system that just hid Yui's health bar and cursor? Or was it something else?

Kirito suddenly stopped as a thought occurred to him.

Did the system recognize him?

The very thought of it launched a surge of fear throughout his body.

"Papa?" Yui's voice cut through Kirito's panicked thoughts, slapping him back into reality. "Are you okay?"

Kirito blinked several times before focusing on Yui. "Y-yeah. I'm fine."

He vaguely felt something rubbing against his leg, and he spotted Shiku rubbing his face into the cloth of his black pants. He smiled and bent to a knee, still holding Yui's hand and petting his cat-lion's fur. He looked around the area they were in, but he didn't see anyone other than a few NPCs shouting from their stalls. He sighed. "It's nearly an hour but no one had recognized you...do you have any idea where your parents are?"

Yui just looked confused as she grabbed Kirito's hand with both of hers. "You are! You're my Papa!"

Kirito sighed once more. "Yui, I'm not-"

"No! You are, you are!" Yui insisted, cutting Kirito off. "And I can prove it, Kazuto-kun!"

Kirito froze at Yui's words. Her eyes were staring right him. Now that he actually looked at her, he began to slowly recognize her.

._._._._._.

_"Cardinal, Aki-nii-chan?" Kazuto asked as his "older brother" carried him on his back. Kayaba smiled as he adjusted Kazuto for a moment as he walked down a path in a dark castle dungeon. They had just entered a structure of Aincrad that the two had gone through the lengths of making. There wasn't any monsters around yet, simply because they had yet to program them into the system. Kayaba had invited the frail child into the early stages of development. Kazuto didn't really have anything better to do so he took the opportunity. He was always curious as to what his "Aki-nii-chan" was up to and it was his chance._

_Kazuto still didn't seem to be able to move his legs, but they were beyond excited that Kazuto could talk like a normal child. They spent a good half hour just laughing and Kazuto ranting off just about anything he could think of. But, that wasn't what Kayaba had brought him into the system for. In fact, he wanted to show him something extraordinary the system itself had done._

_"Yup. It's what I decided to call the system we created. What do you think?" Kayaba asked, glancing at Kazuto at the corner of his eye._

_"A system that acts on its own without human intervention and doing everything according to its own discretion...Hmm...sounds so...important. I think I like it." Kazuto answered honestly. He wrapped his thin arms a little tighter around Kayaba's neck. "Nee? Aki-nii-chan? Where are you taking me?"_

_"You know that we programed it to also keep track of the physiological care of the players right?" Kayaba asked. Kazuto made a noise of confirmation, allowing Kayaba to continue. "Well, Cardinal created something called the 'Mental Health Counseling Program, Prototype 1. Code name: Yui."_

_"Yui?" Kazuto echoed as they came upon a corridor with a doorway of white at the end._

_"And you wouldn't believe what it did..." Kayaba said as he picked up his pace a bit. Kazuto waited patiently for them to reach the end of the corridor and enter the room. He gaped in surprise as he spotted a small girl with her back facing them, sitting on a black stone slab in the center of the room._

_"It created her." Kayaba said. At his words, the girl perked up and twisted her body around, her long black hair swaying with her as she did. She caught sight of them and smiled. Kazuto couldn't help but push away from Kayaba's back slightly, staring at the girl in awe. Kayaba walked over to the stone slab and placed Kazuto sitting on top. She brought her legs up to the slab and observed Kazuto as Kayaba spoke._

_"Go on, introduce yourself." he told them both. Kazuto looked at him before shyly turning to Yui._

_"H-hi...I'm Kazuto." he said, holding out a hand. He wasn't absolutely sure if this was how a normal kid would do it, but it was certainly something. Yui looked at it for a moment before reaching over to take his hand._

_"Yui."_

._._._._._.

Her black hair was just as long as he remembered it. Her bubbly personality had dulled a tiny bit, but her speech dumbed down considerably. Other than that, she hadn't changed for five years.

Shock flooded Kirito's features as his eyes widened in realization. Without asking permission, Kirito pulled Yui closer and just embraced her. He didn't want to let her go.

Two years.

Two long _damn_ years.

Kirito remembered all the times he came to just see her, simply because he could talk to her without moving his hands. She was the one who taught him how to walk in Aincrad mere months before Sword Art Online came out. She was the only AI he could talk freely to, despite her being a program. When the death game began, he didn't realize that he had forgotten all about her.

The stress from all of the players' mental state had her regress into a child, no, almost like a toddler. All of the hatred, the fear, the anger, sadness, grief, depression...and so many other emotions, he didn't know where to even begin any more. She had suffered so much and Kirito didn't remember her.

His grip around her tightened as he began to tear up, not caring if there was anyone watching. He bowed his head and whispered the same words over and over again.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Yui. I'm sorry..."

Yui had a faint smile on her face as she hugged him back, gently rubbing his back to comfort him as best as her small form could do. "Welcome home, Papa."

* * *

**SYSTEM COLABORATION AT SIXTY-ONE PERCENT**

* * *

 


	28. A Quick Phone Call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sorry for not Updating. I got a heavy writer's block.

There was a soft sigh that escaped Kayaba as he leaned back in his seat. The light of the lamp lit part of his room, making a file on his desk visible. He had been staring at it for hours, debating whether or not it he should go through with it. Everything he had previously planned for and set up for Sword Art Online was falling apart. He was sure that he programed Kazuto's NerveGear to feel absolutely no pain at all, and yet, it wasn't working. Since the day Kazuto had collapsed in the middle of their match, Kayaba had been doing extensive research, trying to figure out what was going on.

Unfortunately, when he tried to get into the Cardinal System, it had locked him out. Heck, he even tried to hack his own system, but he was only to get a few bits and pieces. Kazuto's avatar was definitely collaborating to something. And that something, was not the Medicuboid.

The Medicuboid was a side project that Rinko led, using his research for medical purposes. Kazuto had been participating in the project since he was considered a patient that was qualified for it. He was technically terminally ill until they could find a better treatment for him, but it didn't seem likely. For a few months, Kazuto tested out the Medicuboid before logging out to play Sword Art Online for a moment. He didn't really do that out of his own will, but rather because Kayaba had asked him to.

When Kayaba found the System Collaboration Program within Kazuto's NerveGear, he was quick to uninstall it. At first he thought that it was connecting with the Medicuboid, but Kayaba was wrong. He tried to find out what it was collaborating with, but he found himself blocked several times.

Matters worsened when he discovered that the Cardinal System had recognized the program and accepted it into its database. It was then that he realized with dread that the System Collaboration Program was not something to be trifled with. If he suddenly cut the connection, it would not only endanger Kazuto's data, but his mental health and maybe even his physical health.

In fact, if he tried to mess with the connection itself with the current equipment and codes he had at the moment, he would undoubtedly destroy Kazuto completely. It was simply too dangerous.

...Well, alone.

Kayaba took a deep breath before exhaling slowly. He swore that he would do anything to prolong Kazuto's life as much as he could...

...and that would mean calling a person in charge of the "Sword Art Online Case Victim's Rescue Force".

Kikuoka Seijirou.

Kayaba really didn't want to do it, but he shook his head to get a grip. He reached over to his disposable, untraceable phone and unlocked it. He stared at the open keypad, practically staring him. Sighing once more, Kayaba tapped in the number and hovered his thumb over the call button. He was very hesitant to go through with it, but he forced himself to reluctantly press the button. Knowing that he had to go through with it, he lifted the phone to his ear and waited for the other side to pick up, preparing his words.

_Riiiinnng...Riiiiinnng...Riiiinnng..._

...Or maybe Kikuoka would just sleep through the call and Kayaba coul-

"Hello? This is Kikuoka speaking." came a tired voice over the line. Kayaba's prepared words came to a stop at the bottom of his throat as he stared at the file before him. He told himself that he would do this. He was  _determined_  to do this, and yet he was already backing out?

"Hello?" came Kikuoka's slightly impatient voice. Kayaba shook his head and steeled his resolve once more. He had to do this.

For Kazuto.

"Hello, Kikuoka-san. I'm sorry to be calling you at a late hour," he said, glancing at the clock that read a third past two in the morning. "But there's something important I must speak with you about. It pertains to one of the victims of Sword Art Online...and the Cardinal System."

"...Who is this?" Kikuoka asked, his voice concealing caution. The game creator smiled sadly as he tapped a hand on the file, trying to keep his composure.

"Just...just an older brother scared for his little brother's life."

"...alright, what can I help you with?" Kikuoka asked, sounding defeated and slightly irritated.

Kayaba smirked a bit. Anyone would sound a bit impatient if they had been woken up in the middle of the night like this. "I would like to discuss about a certain player that goes by the name 'Kirito'..."


End file.
